


To Build a Home

by Aceofstars16



Series: "To Find A Home" Series [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Adopted Peter, Adoption, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Canon Divergence - Post-Avengers (2012), Fluff, Iron Man 3, Other, Post-Iron Man 2, Pre-Avengers (2012), Pre-Iron Man 3, adoption au, dad tony
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-23
Updated: 2018-08-07
Packaged: 2019-05-13 02:55:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14740704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aceofstars16/pseuds/Aceofstars16
Summary: A continuation of"To Find A Home". Peter is officially staying with Tony from here on out, and he's happier than he could ever be, but that doesn't mean there aren't some bumps along the way, especially when it comes to Tony's duty as Iron Man.





	1. A New Start

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter count unknown at the moment.
> 
> This series takes place after Iron Man 2 and follows the events of Avengers and Iron Man 3. The series after this one will cover events of Age of Ultron, Civil War, and Homecoming. The timeline is divergent of canon to allow more time for relationships to grow. Some tags may be added in later depending on if/when other characters show up but I tried to cover the major ones for now.
> 
>  
> 
> [My tumblr](http://aceofstars16.tumblr.com/)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After coming back to the Stark mansion, Peter couldn't be happier, even to get back into the swing of school. Little does he know, Tony has a surprise for him that just might make school work even better.

“Bye Mr. Stark!”

Tony barely managed to wave bye before Peter raced out the front door. Man, that kid was so excited for school, but then again it was his first day back after the whole…foster home debacle. Every time Tony remembered how Peter had been treated, he wanted to punch something. How in the world could anyone treat any kid that way, let alone a kid as bright as Peter?

Shaking his head, Tony tried to clear his thoughts as he made his way down to the lab, but he couldn’t push away the nagging doubts in his mind. Of course he couldn’t let Peter go somewhere else, the kid was terrified of any other home, but still, Tony knew he wasn’t really good parenting material. Sure, he had done okay when he kid had been there before, but if he was honest with himself, he never really thought it would last. But now it had to, there was no backing out of adoption. It was a commitment Tony had never thought he’d willingly accept. Heck, he’d been scared of some one-night stand coming back to haunt him with a kid and now he had willingly taken in Peter. But every time he told himself he was being an idiot, he would remember how Peter’s eyes lit up as he saw one of Tony’s projects, how the kid read science books for fun, and how tight he had hugged him. Yes, it was terrifying, but Tony could never talk himself out of it. Peter needed him, and he was going to do his best to be there for the kid.

Upon reaching his lab, Tony took a deep breath and refocused on work. Peter was at school now, Tony didn’t need to worry about him.

“Jarvis, drop my beat.”

Music started playing and Tony spun a screwdriver in his hand as he pulled up notes for one of his latest ideas – a self-sustaining power source using arc reactor technology. Within a few minutes, he was lost in the work, all thoughts of Peter vanished, until the music dimmed and Jarvis spoke up again.

“Sir, you have a call from a Harry Osborn.”

“Who?”

“My records indicate he is the son of Norman Osborn. He is also enrolled in Langley Prep.”

For a moment, Tony stared at the hologram in front of him, then it clicked. Peter had talked about his friend Harry a few times before. The only question was, why would Peter not be using his own phone? After everything that happened, Tony had made sure the kid would always have a way to contact him. Trying not to think about it, Tony leaned back from the desk.

“Answer.”

The hologram changed as Jarvis answered the call.

“Umm, Mr. Stark?”

Peter’s voice sounded from the other end and for a second, worry flashed through Tony’s chest, but he quickly pushed it away. The kid was talking, he was fine, right?

“Hey kid, something wrong? Why aren’t you using your phone?”

“Oh I uh…it died…so Harry let me use his.” From the other end of the phone, Tony could hear the embarrassment in Peter’s voice.

“Remind you to upgrade your battery…” Tony mumbled, it wasn’t the 1990s, batteries should last longer. “So, what’s up, something wrong?” Glancing at the clock, he saw that Peter should be done with school and heading home soon. “Is Happy late or something?”

“No, no! We just got out of the last class and well, me and Harry have a project to work on together so I was wondering if I could go to his house and work on it?”

A small frown grew on Tony’s face, and he quickly pulled up Norman Osborn’s information. He recognized the name and something about it unsettled him, though he couldn’t quite put his finger on why. It shouldn’t be a big deal, Tony knew that, but at the same time he didn’t like the idea of Peter going to a place Tony didn’t know, especially after everything that had just happened…

“Well, Happy is already picking you up, how about Harry comes over here?”

“Uh…” Peter’s voice quieted as his words were directed towards someone on the other side of the phone. “Do you think your dad would be okay with you coming over to the house?”

“I could come over there?!? Dude yeah, that works!”

Tony held back a chuckle as he heard the other kid’s reaction.

“Okay!” Peter’s voice was back full force on the phone.

“Alright, just let Happy know and I’ll see you in a bit.”

“See you!”

Tony could hear the grin in Peter’s voice and he couldn’t help but smile a little as he hung up. As his notes on the arc power converter came back to life in front of him, Tony found himself looking at one of the workplaces he hadn’t used for a while. A small idea started forming in his head.

Getting up, he started clearing off the table. The kid would need a place to work and down here would be better than the kitchen table, right?

* * *

“Kid if you keep bouncing like that you’re walking home.”

Peter forced himself to sit still at the words. While he doubted Happy would actually make him walk home, Peter didn’t want to risk it. “Sorry, Happy!”

“If anyone should be bouncing it’s me! Man, I can’t believe I get to see the Stark mansion!” Harry grinned at Peter before looking out the window, as if trying to take in everything about the drive.

“It’s great! Kind of big, but I figured we can just work in the kitchen, it has enough room.”

“Cool. So…what project you want to do?”

Peter dug through his backpack and pulled out the list of projects they could choose from. “Umm…how about…a potato gun?”

Harry didn’t reply and Peter quickly looked up to see his friend looking at him as if saying “are you sure?”

“Or…umm…the volcano?”

Rolling his eyes, Harry shook his head. “Oh please, everyone does that one.”

“Okay, which one do you want to do?” Peter asked, looking at the short list – there weren’t enough for everyone to do something different, which made choosing a little harder.

“How about the potato battery?”

Frowning, Peter looked at the last item on the list, it didn’t exactly sound…amazing. “I mean…we could…hey what if we make a potato gun powered by a potato battery?”

“Isn’t the potato gun supposed to work without power?” Harry asked, looking at the list again.

“Oh…yeah…well, maybe we could do both?” Peter wasn’t sure if the teacher would approve, but maybe it they found a way to incorporate the projects together, it would work out okay.

“Hmmm…sure, we can give it a shot, though we will probably have to go buy some potatoes, unless Mr. Stark has some?”

Opening his mouth, Peter was about to say that of course there were potatoes at the mansion, but then he froze as he realized that he hadn’t actually seen any. “We can ask?”

Harry shrugged. “If not I can just ask Bruno to pick some up for tomorrow, no biggie.”

“Sounds great!”

However, the thought of buying potatoes vanished as soon as they got to the mansion.

As Peter walked into the house, he saw Mr. Stark and grinned.

Tony smiled back and Peter quickly turned and pointed at Harry. “This is Harry Osborn, his dad is a famous scientist too.”

Harry laughed. “He’s got nothing on the Tony Stark, but he gets by. Uh…hi sir, it’s nice to meet you.”

“Kid, only Jarvis calls me sir, you can call me Tony.” With a wave of his hand, Tony headed inside. “Come on, I have a surprise.”

Peter was still thinking about how he only called him Mr. Stark, but at the mention of a surprise he dismissed that thought. What could he possibly have in store? Peter didn’t need anything, he had everything he could ever want at the mansion, and he had everything he needed for school too…

Glancing at Harry, he saw a question in his friend’s eyes but he just shrugged and quickly followed after Mr. Stark.

They headed downstairs to the lab, which only made Peter even more excited. Maybe Tony had come up with a new invention and wanted to show it to him before anyone else! Or maybe he wanted Peter’s help with something. But when he walked into the room, Mr. Stark was standing behind a clean table, there wasn’t even a screw on it.

“Surprise.”

Peter had never seen such a smile on his guardian’s face before, and he tried to match it.

“Woah, this lab is awesome!” Harry was looking around wide-eyed at everything in the room. “My dad never lets me see what he’s working on.”

“Well you can look but don’t touch, unless it’s on this table. I figured both of you would need a place to work on your project.”

As the meaning behind the words settled in, Peter found his mouth falling open. “I can work…in your lab?!?”

A small chuckle escaped Mr. Stark and he nodded. “Yup, though make sure I’m down here before you work on anything.” He gestured to the table, “And this is only for today. I’m thinking of blowing out that wall there so you can have your own little work place.”

Peter stared at Tony, barely processing the words. “My…my own lab?”

“Yeah, I figured you usually work down here anyway and this way you don’t have to work at that tiny table. What…what do you think?” There was a slight nervous hesitation to Mr. Stark’s voice, nothing quite like Peter had heard before.

“I…thank you. I…I’ll work super hard and I won’t touch any of your stuff I promise!”

“Dude, you are sooo lucky, can I come and work here like every day?” Harry, who had been listening quietly, piped in. The awe in his face clearly showed how amazed he was.

“Sure! I mean, if that’s okay, Mr. Stark.”

Tony shrugged. “Fine by me. So, what’s this project you are working on?”

The next few days were amazing. Peter and Harry worked on their potato project and to Peter’s surprise and elation, Mr. Stark even gave them a few pointers and helped them with some of the tricky parts. In the end, they made a potato that heated up before being shot out of a pressurized potato gun. Not only was it fun to make and shoot, but Mr. Martin was impressed and they got an A+. Another highlight was having Harry come over almost every day. Sure, having time just to himself was nice, but it was fun getting to hang out with his best friend outside of school. Most of the time they just did homework, but a few times Mr. Stark would let them watch him work on something or he would set aside work and they would all play a game together. It wasn’t perfect, but Peter was so glad to be where he was, away from horrible foster families, with people he cared about and, who he figured, might care about him too.


	2. A Different Kind of Sick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life is going well at the mansion, Peter is enjoying school and the days fly by. But then one day memories of the past hit him hard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](http://aceofstars16.tumblr.com/)

Peter fell into a rhythm. School every day, sometimes followed by Harry coming home while they worked on homework, whereas others days he worked by himself, unless he needed help. The first time he asked Mr. Stark for help, Peter was a little nervous to, especially because it was a science question and he was usually great with science, but something didn’t quite line up. It turned out that the book had just simplified something and Tony had pulled out an archive that detailed everything – Peter had still been trying to understand it days later. But despite not fully grasping the entire concept, he did learn something else – Mr. Stark didn’t mind him asking for help.

And so, the weeks passed. Peter made new friends at school, though Harry was his closest friend. And he was still the only one who actually know who Peter’s guardian was. After the adoption, Mr. Stark had asked Peter if he wanted to change his name or not, which had been a more complex decision than Peter realized. If he took on the Stark name, everyone would know who he was, there would be no going back to just being a regular kid. In a way, that sounded cool, but when Mr. Stark said all that could come along with it – paparazzi, being recognized in public, lots of events to attend - it lost the appeal. And then there was the Parker name. Peter was the only living member of his family, if he didn’t keep it, his family name would be gone. So, he had kept it and for the moment, things were normal. Life was just going on, until the day Peter woke up and realized the date.

October sixteenth – his dad’s birthday. In the past, the family would always celebrate. Usually it was just with a little something – an ice cream cake, or ordering pizza and playing monopoly, but it had always been a good time. And now those times were gone, just like his family.

Looking at the picture in his hand, Peter wanted to cry, but he just felt empty, and lost.

“Hey kid, breakfast is ready!”

Peter barely registered Mr. Stark’s voice coming from the kitchen. Instead of replying, he hugged the picture and crawled under the bed, dragging a blanket with him. Curling up, he closed his eyes and tried not to think about his family even as his brain replayed memories of them.

“Pet-“

As he heard Mr. Stark’s voice at the door, Peter curled up tighter. He didn’t want to think about today, let alone talk about it, and…if he was honest, he didn’t want Tony to see him like this…

“Peter? Kid where are you?” The slightest bit of panic lined Mr. Stark’s voice and Peter found himself letting out a quiet “here” just so his guardian would know he wasn’t in danger.

A second later, Tony was poking his head under the bed and Peter quickly buried his head in his blanket.

“What? The bed not comfy enough today?”

Peter couldn’t reply, he knew if he tried to talk, he would start crying, and despite crying in front of Tony before…he didn’t really want to do it again. Not now.

“Hey, come on. Happy is going to be here soon, you don’t want to make him wait. You know Happy, he hates waiting.”

Normally, Peter would smile at the joke – seeing as Happy tended to wait a lot for Peter to say goodbye to his friends, but Peter just burrowed even further into his blanket.

There was silence for a few minutes then, “You sick?”

Peter started shaking his head, but then he realized that if he wasn’t sick, he would have to go to school and despite loving his friends, he didn’t want to face anyone today, so he changed it to a nod.

“Okay…what’s up, a fever? Stomach ache?”

Peter just shook his head.

Tony sighed. “Peter, I can’t help if you don’t tell me what’s wrong.”

A small twinge of guilt pricked Peter, but he couldn’t bring himself to admit why he didn’t want to go to school.

“Alright…well, I’ll let Happy know and contact the school. You going to be okay here for a few minutes?”

Peter nodded and after Tony left. The silence stretched on and despite feeling so empty, when Mr. Stark came back in, he said he just wanted to be alone.

That was the first hint to Tony that something was really wrong.

A few weeks ago, Peter had eaten too much candy, which resulted in a stomach ache, and that’s when Tony had realized how needy the kid could be. Peter hadn’t wanted to be alone for a minute, but now he was okay with being alone for hours?

“Jarvis, can you bring up Peter’s file from the system?”

Tony sat in the kitchen as some water heated up. He didn’t know what was up with Peter, but if the kid was sick, soup should help.

“Here you are, sir.”

A file came to life from a hologram system in the wall. Tony flipped through it, looking for any hint as to what was going on with the kid, but nothing stood out.

Then something caught his eye. Information about Peter’s parents. When Tony had first took in the kid, he hadn’t looked too much into his family, all he really knew was that they died at the Expo.

Opening the file, he scanned it, not quite sure what he was looking for, but then he saw it. October sixteenth, Richard Parker’s birthday.

For a moment, Tony was taken back to when he was a teenager, a few months after his parents had died. Any little thing that made him remember them - especially his mom - hurt. Back then, Tony had simply thrown himself into learning and tinkering, to distract himself from his feelings. It was how he coped. But maybe…maybe Peter dealt with those emotions a different way.

“Jarvis, turn the stove off when the water’s hot will you?”

“Of course, sir.”

Glancing in the direction of Peter’s room, Tony sighed and started walking towards it, only to stop as a thought crossed his mind. Turning on his heel, he went the opposite direction, making his way to the lower levels of the mansion before stopping in front of a door that he rarely opened.

“Alright, Peter…let’s see what we can do…”

* * *

 

Peter almost dozed off a few times, but he always realized it before sleep actually came and shook himself awake, but he might as well have been asleep. He didn’t want to do anything, he didn’t want to think or cry or anything. Nothing sounded good. So, he just curled up in the blanket and stared at the wall. A few times he looked at the picture of his family, but that only sparked memories so he quickly hid it. Part of him wanted to remember, but the other part was terrified of feeling so much. No, he would just stay here and…hope this day ended soon.

Footsteps sounded outside of the room, but Peter was so zoned out he barely registered it. When Mr. Stark sat down next to the bed, Peter quickly looked at the wall under his bed, not wanting to look at Tony and risk almost crying again.

It was silent for a few moments, then there was the sound of paper crunching. For a second, Peter was tempted to see what Mr. Stark had brought in, but instead he hugged his blanket a little tighter.

“Peter, I’m so proud of you for giving that little girl your toy, even though you knew we couldn’t afford another one. I know it’s been years, but I thought you might like a new Freckles, even if he does look a little different.”

The words brought a weight down on Peter’s chest, and as he realized what it was, tears started forming in his eyes. His dad had written that, in a letter for his birthday. He could still remember opening the present and seeing the stuffed cheetah, a grin breaking out on his face and joy filling his heart. The exact opposite of how he felt now. Pressure built up in his chest and a small sob escaped, then something bumped his head and he turned to see Freckles. With a trembling lip, Peter grabbed the cheetah and pulled him close.

“He’s a pretty special present, huh?”

Peering at Tony, Peter managed a nod.

“Your parents seemed like good people.” There was silence for a moment then, “You can cry for them, it’s okay.”

“How…?” Peter managed to ask, but his voice shook and he couldn’t get out anything out and he quickly buried his head in Freckle’s fur again.

“Well…it seems the state kept your family’s things after…everything. You were supposed to get it when you turned eighteen but after I officially adopted you, they sent it here…”

“E-everything?”

A hesitant nod. “Yeah. I know I should’ve told you sooner but…I didn’t know if you’d want to see any of it…sorry about that.”

Peter didn’t know what to think or say. He had just assumed all of the stuff in the apartment was gone, but now he had it back. It was both terrifying and comforting.

“W…what else?”

“Well, I didn’t go through everything, but this one has a lot of cards and some of your old school papers. Oh and…some books?” As he spoke, Mr. Stark pulled out a few things. Peter half watched, then he spotted one of the books.

“The Rainbow Fish!”

Tony froze and looked up. “You like this one?”

Peter nodded.

“Want to read it?” Mr. Stark handed the book to Peter, but as he looked at it, he couldn’t bring himself to pick it up. The last time he had read it, his dad had been there.

“Can…can you read it?”

“I…uh…yeah, sure…”

Scooting over a little so he could see the pictures better, Peter held Freckles close as Mr. Stark started reading the book. At first, he was happy, almost imagining that he was back in the apartment, with his dad reading to him as he fell asleep, but slowly, everything sank in again. Tears started welling up in his eyes and Peter was tempted to crawl back under the bed, but it was so lonely under there, and for the first time that day, he didn’t want to be alone. So, he crawled forward and rested his head on one of Tony’s legs.

The story halted for a moment, and Peter almost crawled away again, but then a hand rested on his head and Mr. Stark started reading again.

As the story wound down, Peter found himself wishing it were longer. The day was still full of painful reminders, and the story almost made them worse, but in a way…it was kind of nice.

“The end.” The hand that had been rustling Peter’s hair, left and the book made a loud clap as it was closed.

“Can…can we read another one?”

There was silence for a moment then, “Sure…which one do you want to read?”

The rest of the day passed slowly, and it would be a lie to say it was a happy day. Different stories reminded Peter of different memories – especially some of the old letters, but it wasn’t the worst day either. Mr. Stark even made soup that they ate twice, along with some cookies that were leftover from a party a few days ago.

Peter was nibbling on a cookie as Tony read Go Dogs Go. Freckles was in his lap, along with a few other stuffed animals Mr. Stark had found in the storage boxes. As the story ended, Peter looked at his animals, then spoke, though it was harder than it would’ve been on any other day.

“Mr. Stark?”

Tony paused and looked up. “Yeah, Pete?”

“I…thanks…for…today.”

A smile grew on Mr. Stark’s face and he nodded. “No problem.”

“And…I’m sorry for lying about being sick…” It was hard to admit, but Peter couldn’t keep quiet, the guilt was too much.

Silence, then Mr. Stark set the book aside. “Peter, you don’t need to apologize for missing your family. If you need a day off from school, just let me know, fever or no, okay?”

It wasn’t what Peter was expecting, not from Tony, but he found a smile growing on his face as he nodded. “Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I picked "The Rainbow Fish" and "Go Dogs Go" because they were some of my favorite books as kids, and "The Rainbow Fish" has a good lesson of being generous to others and kind and I feel like that's something Peter would just love. 
> 
> The timeline for this fic is...kind of all over the place, I haven't settled on specific ages/years/dates yet, but I have the general idea of the time frame...so I hope everything works out and makes sense as y'all read it *flops*
> 
> I also have no clue when Richard Parker's birthday is, so I just picked a random date. Also, in this AU, Uncle Ben/Aunt May aren't really in it. Peter lost his parents, and at the moment I'm saying Ben died before the Expo. Aunt May on the other hand...well...let's just say she might not have ever married Ben so...I might find a way to work her into the series? Though it would probably just be a cameo...xD


	3. The Guardian Tax

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Peter's first Halloween at the Stark mansion, and Tony's first time even thinking about the holiday in years, but that doesn't mean it can't be a fun night, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](http://aceofstars16.tumblr.com)

“I’m dressing up as Sailor Moon. My uncle said he’s going to take me to the best places in town, it’s going to be great!”

“Lucky, I doubt my dad will let me go very far, and last time Bruno walked with me to the front door every time…”

Peter listened quietly as his friends discussed their Halloween plans, trying not to think about the fact that he wasn’t going to be able to do anything this year. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to, he loved dressing up and pretending to be his favorite heroes, but with everything that had happened recently, he hadn’t even realized the holiday was almost here. That left no time to get a costume. Plus, he hadn’t exactly asked Mr. Stark about going trick-or-treating.

“What about you Peter?”

Snapping out of his thoughts, Peter looked at Gwen, then at Harry and shrugged a little. “I…I don’t think I’m going to go out.”

Gwen gave him a sympathetic look before taking another bite of her lunch, but a second late she froze. “Hey…I have an idea…what if we all went trick-or-treating together? My uncle is coming with me so we’d be supervised.” She glanced at Harry, then continued. “And then we could all celebrate together. I can even see if Anya and Miles can come too.”

“I don’t know…I’d have to ask my dad…” Harry said, and glanced at Peter. “What about you Pete?”

Peter ducked his head, the thought of asking Mr. Stark if he could go trick-or-treating making him strangely nervous. It wasn’t like he hadn’t asked for anything before, but it had always been something for school. And he had never asked to go out with any of his friends, not since the science project. While Mr. Stark didn’t say anything, Peter couldn’t help but feel like he wasn’t exactly thrilled with the idea of Peter going to unknown places.

“I…I don’t know…I don’t even have a costume…”

“You can always just grab a sheet and be a ghost. It’s a cop out, but it works.” Gwen grinned at him again, and he found himself smiling back.  
“Okay…”

* * *

As soon as he got home, Peter lost all of his nerve.

“Hey kiddo, how was school?”

“It was great!” Peter said, then quickly rushed to his room. “I have a lot of homework though. Gotta get started on it.”

Even as he closed the door, Peter knew he wasn’t hiding anything. He always worked in the lab and Mr. Stark would notice the change. But when he thought of going out to ask about trick-or-treating, his stomach knotted up, so instead he pulled out his homework and flopped on the bed to start – which was not as nice to work on as the desk in the lab.

Minutes turned into hours and Peter started wondering if maybe Tony didn’t think it was strange for him to be working in his room. Maybe he wouldn’t have to ask, but then he realized if he didn’t, he wouldn’t be able to tell Gwen if he could make it or not. And if he was honest, he really wanted to go. The anxiety that had diminished grew again, making it hard to focus.

A knock sounded on the door and Peter was so wound up he practically jumped up straight into the air.

“Hey, Pete, supper is ready.”

Peter let out a breath at Mr. Stark’s voice, and he was tempted to say he wasn’t hungry, but that was a lie. Despite his nervousness, he hadn’t had his usual snack after school and he was starving.

“O-okay, coming.” Crawling off of the bed, Peter slowly make his way to the kitchen, his hunger fighting with his nervousness, but as soon as he smelled the garlic bread, his legs sped up on their own.

As he walked into the kitchen, he saw Tony pulling a pan out of the oven, the plates were already on the table as he sat down he looked at the food. Spaghetti with meatballs that somehow looked way more authentic than anything Peter had ever had before, and a salad that didn’t look amazing but it didn’t look terrible either.

“Dig in.” Mr. Stark set down the bread then sat down, grabbing some garlic bread and quickly dropping it on Peter’s already full plate.

“Be careful, that bread it hot.” Tony shook his hand, trying to cool it off, before grabbing a piece of bread for himself.

Peter looked at the food and all thought of Halloween vanished as he took the first bite. It was good, surprisingly good. Not that Mr. Stark hadn’t made good food before, but most of the time it tended to be frozen food heated up. But this was not frozen, it was fresh and real and oh so delicious!

It was silent as they ate, and only as Peter looked up to grab another piece of bread, did he see that Mr. Stark was watching him and he shrunk back a little, which immediately resulted in Tony looking away.

“You like it?” Mr. Stark asked, now studying a piece of bread.

“Uh, yeah, it’s great! I’ve never had spaghetti like it before.”

A smirk appeared on Tony’s face. “I should hope not, this is my mom’s secret recipe. She wasn’t one to share it publicly, I think all Italian restaurants would go out of business if she had.”

Mr. Stark winked and Peter laughed a little as he took another bite of bread, but as he chewed a question formed. “Why have you never made it before?”

The smile on Tony’s face faded a little and for a moment he looked distracted, but then he shook his head. “It takes time, it can’t be rushed. I normally don’t have that kind of time…but it’s good cheer up food.”

Peter froze at the words, so he hadn’t fooled Mr. Stark. Though Tony must’ve thought it was the result of a bad day, not nervousness.

A small ‘oh’ was the only noise Peter could make as his anxiety came back. He knew he needed to ask, it would drive him crazy if he didn’t ask, but he couldn’t force himself to open his mouth again.

“Peter…” Mr. Stark’s voice trailed off and he sighed.

When Peter looked up and saw the distant look back on Tony’s face, and guilt weight down on him. They had already been through some…difficult things, and now Peter was scared of just asking something simple, when Mr. Stark had never given any hint he’d get mad at it.

Taking a deep breath, Peter steeled himself. “I’m okay, really. I just…one of my friends invited me to go trick-or-treating and I…I wanted to see if I could go.”

Tony quickly turned his gaze back on Peter, but before he could say anything, Peter rushed on.

“Her uncle is coming and Harry’s driver is probably going to, so we won’t be unsupervised and I’d be really careful!”

Mr. Stark held up a hand and Peter quickly shut his mouth and tried to ignore the rapid beating of his heart. He had done it. He had asked, but he was still on edge.

“How long would you be out?”

“Uh…” Peter tried to remember if they had settled on a time, but if they had, he had zoned out. “I don’t know…uh…a few hours?”

A frown, a sigh, then. “Alright, but Happy is driving you, no one else.”

“Thanks, Mr. Stark!” Peter couldn’t hold back a grin and without thinking he jumped up and hugged Tony, only to realize what he had done. With warm ears, he quickly let go, but he was still smiling.

“Yeah…sure thing.” If Peter didn’t know any better, he might’ve thought Mr. Stark was a little flustered. Then a hand was rustling his hair. “Come on, kiddo, why don’t you help me clean up and then you can come down to the lab and finish your work.”

“Okay!”

The rest of the night was great and Peter couldn’t believe he had been so stressed out before. Homework went faster than it had before, both due to the absence of worry and the fact that Mr. Stark was there to help if Peter had any questions. By the time Peter crawled into bed, he couldn’t wait until Halloween.

* * *

Halloween. Tony hadn’t thought about the holiday in ages, it just wasn’t something that crossed his mind. Even as a kid, he had never really celebrated it, there were only a few years that Jarvis went out with him. But now it was back in his life, because Peter was in his life now.

When the day rolled around, Tony tried not to think about the night. Peter going out on his own, out who knew where, seeing strangers. It was relatively safe, in his mind, Tony knew that. And Happy would be there. But no matter what he did, Tony couldn’t push away a nagging worry.

Setting down a screwdriver, Tony shook his head. This was ridiculous, he couldn’t focus. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a mask he had been working on, but he hadn’t quite gotten right.

An idea started forming in his mind and as Tony picked up the mask, a small smile grew on his face. Maybe it was time he gave Halloween another shot.

* * *

 

“See you tonight!”

Peter couldn’t contain his excitement as he hopped in the car. The whole ride home, he kept imagining what might happen that night, what kind of candy he might get, and what kind of memories he might make. Aside from Harry, he didn’t interact with any of his friends outside of school, and he was excited for the chance to hang out with them outside of academic situations. And then there was his costume. In the past, he had always made outfits with things he had, or clothes he found at the thrift store. This year, Mr. Stark had helped him pick out every piece of clothing online, and when they all came in, the whole thing looked so real. From the black vest, to the authentic blaster, he looked just like Han Solo. It was the best costume he ever had, he wished his parents could’ve seen it…

For a moment, the day was dampened by the realization that this was Peter’s first Halloween without his family. But then he went to his room and saw the outfit and the excitement returned – though a small tinge of sadness still remained.

It was hard to focus on homework, Peter just kept thinking of the costume, until he caved and put it on. He was no longer Peter Parker. He was Han Solo, suave smuggler. Grinning at himself in the mirror, Peter looked back at his homework. It was his latest mission, he had to sort out all of the details if this smuggling mission was to succeed! After that, homework went smoothly and by the time he needed to leave, he had finished it all.

After double checking his outfit, he raced out to the living room, looking around for Happy, but he froze when he saw Mr. Stark.

Or at least he assumed it was Tony. He had an Iron Man mask on, which looked a little ridiculous with a plain red hoodie and jeans. And on his hands, two repulsors glowed, though if they were real or not, Peter didn’t know.

“Ready to go?” Mr. Stark asked as he lifted up the mask.

“I…yeah…I thought Happy was taking me?” Peter asked, still trying to take in the half suit that Tony was wearing.

A shrug. “I figured it’s been a while since I actually went out on Halloween. If you…are okay with that?”

Peter couldn’t stop a smile. “Yeah! Though I don’t know if any of the other adults are wearing…masks?”

“Well, I figured you’d want to keep who I am on the down low. If not though, I can leave it…”

“No! That’s…fine…” Peter said, looking at the outfit again and barely holding back a laugh. But then he realized something. “Wait…is that one of your masks…?”

Glancing up at the mask on his head, Tony pulled it off. “Well, I was going to use one of mine, but then I remembered seeing this one the other day when you were…having a bad day. I didn’t realize you had an Iron Man mask.”

Mr. Stark grinned at him, but Peter barely heard what he was saying, his eyes were glued to the mask. The last time he had worn that was the night his parents…He thought it had been lost, but there it was, looking him right in the face.

“Pete? Hey, you okay?”

Eyes snapping to Tony, Peter saw confusion and worry brimming in his guardian’s eyes. “I…yeah…I just…” He trailed off, not knowing what to say, he couldn’t make eye contact, he could barely look at the mask.

There was silence for a few moments then a quiet curse, then another one. “Peter, I’m so sorry, I didn’t even realize…I won’t wear it. I’ll go grab something else.”

“No!” Peter found the word escaping his mouth before he could even think. His eyes flickered to the mask, then to Tony. “I…you can wear it.”

A frown formed on Mr. Stark’s face and he knelt down in front of Peter. “Peter, I don’t mind grabbing something else, or staying back. This is your mask and this is your night with your friends.” There was slightly hesitation in his voice, but Peter could tell he meant it.

“No…I want you to come, and…you can wear the mask.” Peter forced himself to look at the mask, trying to see if just as that – a mask – not something that held so many painful emotions in it.

“Are you sure?”

Peter looked at Tony and nodded. “I’m sure.”

The rest of the night was a blur. Mr. Stark drove Peter to the neighborhood and together they walked with the rest of Peter’s friends – and their guardians – to different houses. Tony even managed to convince Bruno and Gwen’s uncle to let the kids walk up to the doors by themselves. Though one time when Peter turned around, he saw Mr. Stark holding up his repulsor, and even if it wasn’t a real one, it looked quite intimidating.

As the night wore on, Peter found the memories of his parents diminishing. He started relaxing and simply laughing and having fun with his friends. They got so much candy, Peter knew he would have a stomach ache for days, but it was so worth it.

By the end of the night, Peter was exhausted, but he couldn’t stop smiling, and as he got into the car, he saw Tony taking off his mask for the first time that night.

“Have fun?” Mr. Stark asked as they drove away into the night.

“Yeah, I did. Did…did you?” Peter found himself asking, wondering just how much fun it could be to follow kids around while not getting any candy yourself.

A small smile grew on Tony’s face. “You know what? I did. It’s kind of fun wearing a mask without everyone knowing who I am behind it.”

Peter let out a small laugh and he glanced at the mask, it still had hardship in its past, but now…it had some joy in its story as well.

“Though I better get some of that candy.”

“What?!?” Peter hugged his bag of candy closer to his chest as Tony laughed.

“Call it a…guardian tax.” Mr. Stark held out a hand and Peter smiled a little and placed a 3 Musketeers in it.

“Awww, the low of the low,” Tony said, even as he unwrapped the candy and popped it into his mouth.

“You can have all of my flavored tootsie rolls too.” Peter grabbed one of his least favorite flavors and placed it next to Mr. Stark.

“Oh, I see. I get all the undesirables.” For a second, Tony looked at Peter and cocked an eyebrow in question.

Peter grinned sheepishly and grabbed a Milky Way Midnight and handed it to Tony who glanced at it and laughed before ruffling Peter’s hair.

“I’m just teasing, kiddo. But no more candy tonight or you won’t be able to sleep, okay?”

Peter grinned and glanced at his stash of candy, it wasn’t going anywhere. “Okay.”

A nod. “Good.”

There was silence in the car again, then Peter spoke up.

“Mr. Stark?”

“Yeah, kid?”

“Thanks…for coming along.”

Tony glanced at him and smiled. “Well I couldn’t let Happy come and have all the fun. Besides, I got some free candy out of it.”

They both laughed and Peter realized that, despite things being different, it hadn’t been a bad Halloween at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I've seen headcanons that Tony isn't the best cook/can't cook, but my personal headcanon is that his mom would let him cook with her when Howard pushed him away, so he's actually a really good cook, he just normally doesn't have time to actually cook, so he just pays someone else or does something simple. The only exception is when it comes to the people he cares about, then he will spend hours working on food for them (like Pepper in Iron Man 2), so...that kind of worked its way into this chapter and I kind of love it <3
> 
> Also, when I wrote the line about Tony only wanting Happy to drive, I realized that it just showed another way Peter is growing on him. Tony lost his parents in a car accident, so he doesn't want just anyone driving him or those he cares about around. He trusts Happy, but no one else.
> 
> Another note...I kind of just...took the kids from Marvel's Spider-Man TV show and made them Peter's friends in this AU, including Miles. I know he might show up in the MCU later, but I thought I'd give him a few mentions in this fic, just for the fun of it ^^


	4. Water War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Big families aren't something Peter is used to, so when Tony takes him to the Rhodes for Thanksgiving, he's more than a little nervous.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](http://aceofstars16.tumblr.com/)

Peter was out of his element. Not only was this a new house, but aside from Tony and Rhodey, he didn’t know anyone. When Mr. Stark had informed him that they would be going to the Rhodes for Thanksgiving, Peter had been nervous, and now that anxiety had only increased.

In the past, Thanksgiving had always been a small gathering, just his parents, Uncle Ben, and maybe a few friends. But the Rhodes? There must’ve been at least twenty people, and while the house was big, it still felt crowded. Peter closely followed Mr. Stark around, too unsure to even step away from his guardian.

“Hey Peter, why don’t I take you to hang out with the kids? Then you don’t have to hang out with all of the boring adults.”

Peter quickly looked up at Rhodey, just in time to see the wink.

“Boring adults? Really?” Mr. Stark cocked an eyebrow at his friend and Peter couldn’t hold back a small smile.

Rhodey waved his hand. “You know what I mean.”

“Pfft, I’m never boring,” Tony said matter-o-factly, but then he looked down at Peter and smiled. “But if you want to go hang out with people more your age you won’t hurt my feelings.”

Peter opened his mouth, about to say he was fine just where he was, but then Rhodey was patting him on the back. “Come on, squirt. I’ll introduce you.”

Looking back, Peter saw Mr. Stark smiling at him and nodding. “Have fun kiddo.”

Peter tried to smile back, but as soon as he was out of Tony’s line of sight, anxiety filling every inch of his body. He knew he shouldn’t be scared - this was a safe place. Mr. Stark wouldn’t have brought him if it wasn’t. But he didn’t know anyone, and despite having friends, he still felt a little inept when it came to…making friends.

“Here we go.”

Rhodey ushered Peter into a room where a few other kids were playing – some were older, some much younger, and then there were a few that were around Peter’s age.

“Hey gang!"

Peter shrunk away as all of the kids stopped what they were doing to look at him.

“This is Peter, he’s hanging with us today. Make him feel welcome. Oh, and you all better wash up before we eat!”

With a pat on the back, Rhodey left and Peter was by himself, wishing he was anywhere else. For a few moments, everyone was still looking at him – a few waved – and then they went back to doing whatever they had been doing.

For a few minutes, Peter just watched. Some of the older boys were playing some sports game on a PS3, a few of the little kids colored, and two of the kids…were walking right towards him. Peter wanted to run back to Tony. He felt silly for even thinking it, but he couldn’t stop from taking a step back.

“Hi, Peter right?” The boy held out his hand and Peter nodded as she shook it.

“Cool, I’m John. This is Letitia.” As he spoke, John gestured to the girl next to him, who grinned a greeting.

“We were just about to play bop-it, want to join in?” Letitia asked, holding up the toy in her hand.

“I uh…” Peter’s words stuck in his throat so he just nodded. He caught a silent glance between them, as if they were asking why he was being so awkward, but then John spoke up.

“Great! Here you can go first.”

The next hour or so passed by without Peter even realizing it. After the first few minutes of awkwardness, he found himself relaxing, just a little. Yes, he was still out of the loop - the kids would make jokes that he didn’t understand, or reference things he had never heard of - but for the most part they just played games until food was ready. As they sat at the table, Peter was really starting to feel more at home, though as he ate he couldn’t help but wonder what Mr. Stark was up to.

* * *

Tony always loved Thanksgiving at the Rhodes house. Ever since his parents passed, he had been invited over and welcomed as if he was a part of the family.

Unfortunately, that meant getting asked questions just like any other family members – who are you dating now, any big trips planned – over the years the questions had changed, but this year’s question vastly different.

“So, Tony…how are you doing with the boy?”

It was a harmless enough question, but it made Tony freeze before he could take another bite. There was something in the tone that wasn’t quite as innocent as it sounded. He knew Rhodey had been skeptical about Tony even fostering Peter to begin with, and now he had adopted the kid. It seemed Mrs. Rhodes was unsure about the decision as well. At least Peter wasn’t in the room – he was eating with the other kids.

“It’s going fine. Peter’s a good kid.” The words came out more defensive than he planned and Tony quickly cleared his throat and tried to talk as if it was any other question he had been asked. “He’s doing well in school, and he’s made some friends. He even dragged me along to go trick-or-treating.”

“I see…”

Tony’s eye narrowed before he could stop them, what was that supposed to mean? The spark of defensiveness that had flared up a moment before came back full force. “The mansion has never been so lively, it’s nice to have someone else there.” Tony pointed to Rhodey. “Aside from when Rhodey and Pepper come by, of course. And Peter is a brilliant kid. If I didn’t know who his parents were, I’d say he was my illegitimate kid.”

As soon at the words came out, Tony quickly shut his mouth. Where the heck had THAT come from? Sure, he looked after Peter, he was just a kid and Tony wanted to make sure he was okay, but that was as far as it went. At least…that’s what he told himself. He wasn’t actually the kid’s dad, he was just keeping an eye on him. So why had he just said that?

There was silence around the table for a few moments.

“I see…” Mrs. Rhodes said, though Tony wish she had just moved onto the next person at the table. But then she nodded. “I wasn’t sure what to think when James told me about the whole ordeal. Now I see that you do care for the boy, so even if it’s not the most…ideal situation…I approve. Now, Jessica, how…”

The rest of the words were lost to Tony. He hadn’t been expecting to hear anything even remotely close to that. The situation with Peter wasn’t normal, it wasn’t anything he would’ve ever planned and he knew not everyone would agree with him. But having Mrs. Rhodes approval meant more to him that he thought it would. He knew Peter was a good fit, and he would fight anyone who wanted to hurt the kid, and now someone else agreed with him – someone he admired. A smile grew on his face, and it didn’t leave for the rest of the meal.

* * *

“Alright everyone, time for the tournament!”

Peter sat up straight as he heard Rhodey practically yelling to get everyone’s attention. Everyone had finished eating almost an hour ago, but Peter was still stuffed – he had never had so much food before! Part of that was due to the fact that he hadn’t seen half of the dishes before and John insisted he try all of them – some he loved, some he could barely swallow - and part of it was simply because the food was so good. All of the nerves of the morning had dissipated, but now Peter found himself feeling out of the loop again.

“Mr. Stark, what is going on?”

Tony looked at him and winked. “Watch and see.”

Kids paired up with adults – usually parents and kids, though Peter saw John high five Rhodey then stand next to him.

“Alright, time to go over the rules…”

“Wait!”

Peter perked up as an older woman - who he could only assume was Rhodey’s mom – spoke up. “We need one more team.”

Everyone was looking around, pointing at some of the younger kids and teens, but then Mrs. Rhodes pointed and everyone stopped, including Peter. She was pointing at Mr. Stark and Peter.

Tony held up his hands. “What about the rule that guests don’t participate?”

“Oh please, Tony, you’re family. Don’t tell me Iron Man is scared of a little competition?”

A smirk grew on Mr. Stark’s face and he glanced at Peter. “Well, what do you think Pete?”

Peter glanced around the room, nervousness bubbling up in his chest, but he found himself nodding. This wasn’t what he was used to for Thanksgiving but…so far it had been fun, this would be fun too, right?

“Alright, let’s get started.”

Everyone immediately got up and headed outside, Peter hesitantly followed Mr. Stark, only to be stopped by John, who handed him a foam sword.  
“You’re gonna need that,” he said, waving a sword of his own.

A few minutes later, everyone was outside, and each team was standing in a row.

“Okay, everyone has their weapons? Good. Rules are the same. Whoever gets to four strikes first wins. The first to be hit four times loses. And remember, the losers clean the dishes and winners get dessert first!”

Peter was still trying to wrap his head around what was even going on, but then someone splattered paint on his sword and Tony was crouching down next to him.  
“Alright, just swing as much as you can and I’ll try to dodge, I’m pretty good at that, though I’m used to having my suit.”

Opening his mouth, Peter was about to ask what was even about to happen, but then he saw every other kid climbing onto an adult’s shoulders, sword in hand, ready to fight, and it clicked into place. The confusion cleared and the nervousness that had been building in his chest lessened, to be replaced by excitement. “Got it!”

The next few minutes were chaos, but it barely lasted for a minute for Peter. He tried his best to hit others and get paint on them, and he succeeded a few times, but defending was…harder than he thought it would be. Before he knew it, Tony was being pulled aside. They had been the first to be hit four times, which meant they had to do the dishes.

At first, Peter was a little disappointed – the desserts looked really good and there were a LOT of dishes to clean. But then John assured him there would still be plenty of dessert when they were done, so Peter washed the dishes while Mr. Stark scrubbed them, they had agreed to wash them first, then dry them after all of them were clean.

It was when Peter was rinsing off a spoon that the water caught it just right, sending water flying right at Mr. Stark.

“Sorry!” Peter quickly blurted out, ducking his head as he flipped the spoon around, only to freeze as something flicked onto his face. Reaching up, he saw soap suds on his fingers and looked at Tony, who was whistling, not making any eye contact.

Peter shrugged it off and grabbed a fork, but then another splatter of suds hit him, and this time he saw Mr. Stark quickly looking away. A grin grew on Peter’s mouth and he quickly grabbed another spoon – only this time he accidentally sprayed himself before hitting Tony.

Then the war was on. Suds and water flew, the dishes were all but forgotten, aside from using them as weapons and shields.

“What is going on here?”

Peter froze at Rhodey’s voice and he caught sight of Mr. Stark looking just as flustered as Peter felt.

“Water war, gotta make work fun,” Tony said, carefully placing a plate back into the sink.

“You realize you are going to have to clean all of this water up too, right?”

Mr. Stark frowned. “You know it wouldn’t take as long if we had some help.”

“No, you are not dragging me into this!”

They dragged Rhodey into it. With a promise of upgrading the War Machine suit, he caved.

After they had finished cleaning – both the kitchen and the dishes - they finally got to try the dessert, which was just as amazing as the rest of the food. Then they changed, Tony borrowed some dry clothes from Rhodey and John lent some clothes to Peter.

It was a long day, and far from what Peter expected, but as they drove home, he found himself unable to stop smiling, even as he felt sleep pulling at him.

* * *

Driving in silence was always therapeutic for Tony, just him, the road, and the lights in the dark sky. Peter had stopped talking quite a while ago, and as Tony glanced over at him, he saw the kid conked out, his head resting on car door.

A smile grew on Tony’s mouth and he shook his head. After the whole discussion about Peter at the table, he found himself continually surprised at how much the kid was staring to mean to him. Of course, he tried to tell himself it was just because he was responsible for Peter, but if he thought about it for more than a few seconds, he knew that was just a cover. Tony would’ve cared what happened to Peter even if he wasn’t his guardian, and that scared him a little. Those he cared about tended to get put in dangerous situations, and Peter was just a kid.

He’ll be fine, I’ll make sure nothing happens to him. Tony told himself as he turned into the driveway of the mansion. As he parked, he looked at Peter again and sighed. That was a feat easier said than done.

Reaching over, Tony was about to poke Peter away, but he froze. The kid looked so peaceful. So instead, he simply unbuckled the seatbelt and – after a little maneuvering – scooped Peter up and made his way into the house.

“Welcome back, sir.”

“Hey Jarvis,” Tony said, keeping his voice quiet as he made his way to Peter’s room.

A few minutes later, he had Peter tucked under the covers, though he was still wearing his borrowed clothes – Tony would have to give those to Rhodey at some point.

Glancing at the time, Tony knew he should get to bed himself, but he was never one for going to bed when he should and he found himself watching Peter. He was such an innocent and good kid, he deserved an amazing life. The silent promise Tony made to himself in the car weighed down on his chest, but he clung to it. No one was going to hurt Peter and live to tell the tale.

Tony found himself ruffling Peter’s hair, though not enough to wake him. “Night, kiddo. Thanks for the fun day.”

“Night, Tony.”

It was barely audible, but Tony found himself rolling his eyes. Of course, Peter was still awake. But despite that, he couldn’t help but smile just a little. After all, today had been a pretty great day Tony had to admit that Peter was one of the main reasons it had been so enjoyable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a fun chapter to write and I hope y'all enjoyed it! I was not planning that whole section with Tony, but then it just happened and I adore it. Peter is fun to write but Tony...is also realllly fun to write...painful but fun!
> 
> I have honestly never heard of anyone playing that kind of game for Thanksgiving, but I got the idea and it sounded fun? And I know my family would sometimes play football at Thanksgiving too, so I think that inspired it a little, haha (And yes, I am writing about holidays even though it's not even close to winter...but it's fun, and I'm looking forward to next week's chapter ;) )
> 
> I also...had no clue what to name the kids Peter met so...I just went and named them after a certain actor and actress that I admire a lot (even though one is already in the MCU as a different character oops...) If you know who I named them after you get brownie points from me! xD


	5. You Are Not Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas is a happy time...right? But for some reason, Tony doesn't seem to be enjoying it and Peter is determined to find out why, and help his guardian smile again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My tumblr](http://aceofstars16.tumblr.com/)

Mr. Stark was out of it, and Peter didn’t know why. Christmas time was always a happy time, or at least, it always had been for Peter. The lights, the decorations, the songs, the movies. Peter couldn’t remember a time when Christmas hadn’t been fun, but this year was different. Not just because of the Tony’s distractedness, but also the thought of celebrating without his parents. There was no shopping, no caroling, no decorating. When Peter walked into the mansion, it didn’t even feel like Christmas.

That wasn’t acceptable.

Peter did what he could, he tried cutting out snowflakes and candy canes, then he borrowed some lights from Harry and hung them up in the living room. He even tried to bake cookies but that only resulted in the kitchen smelling like burnt sugar for days. And no matter what he did, Mr. Stark would just give a small smile then turn back to whatever he had been working on recently.

“Jarvis, why is Mr. Stark so sad?”

Looking up at the ceiling, Peter glanced at the present he had been trying to wrap for Harry but had given up on after realizing he didn’t have any wrapping paper and regular paper didn’t work quite as well.

“I’m afraid I can’t answer that, young sir.”

“Why not?” Peter returned his gaze to the ceiling. He knew Jarvis wasn’t in it, but he felt like looking at something and the ceiling made the most sense.

“It is in my programing not to tell anyone about Mr. Stark’s current state.”

“But…I want to help him, and I don’t know how.”

Silence.

“Can you give me a hint? That won’t be breaking any programing, right?”

Silence for a moment, then a beep from a panel on the wall.

Peter jumped up and quickly rushed over to the screen. It was a list of obituaries from years ago, not exactly the kind of thing Peter wanted to look at, but he started scrolling through them. A lump formed in his throat as he thought of all of the people who had died, and the people they had left behind. Grandparents, children, parents…

Then he saw it. Howard and Maria Stark Die in Car Accident. Dated December 17th, that was in two days…

The lump in Peter’s throat grew, his chest felt heavy. He always knew Mr. Stark’s parents had died, but he had never known when, and for some reason he had assumed it didn’t matter that much anymore. It had been so long ago…but now he realized that time would never make the hurt go away. He knew he would still miss his parents fifty years from now.

Without thinking, Peter reached up, hand hovering over the hologram of the newspaper. He remembered how Mr. Stark had helped him when he had been hurting…maybe it was time to return the favor.

* * *

 

Tony hated Christmas. He knew he shouldn’t. It was a time of joy for everyone else. But it was always a reminder of his parents, of getting a call, of looking around the empty house and not even knowing what to feel. Sleeping was almost impossible around the holiday. In the past, he would just drink away his sorrows, but he couldn’t…or he wouldn’t. He had made a promise to himself to never drink when Peter was around and his winter break had started, so he was always at the mansion – especially because Tony still didn’t like the kid going to new places on his own.

So, Tony did the only other thing he could do, he buried himself in projects, staying up till all ends of the night and barely sleeping at any point in the day. It had worked before, but he should’ve known Peter would notice.

He tried not to show it, he still tried to smile when the kid made crafts. It was pretty adorable after all, but it didn’t ease the pain.

Then the day came. Tony never meant to remember the date, to keep track of when it happened, but his mind wasn’t one to forget. So, like every other year, he did all he could to distract himself from it, if he kept inventing, he didn’t have time to hurt.

“Sir, you are needed upstairs.”

Tony froze. Peter. He hadn’t checked in on the kid this morning, and despite the guilt, he was still hesitant to move. The thought of faking a smile in front of the kid, especially today, was near impossible.

“What’s up Jarvis? Peter okay?”

There was silence, which was not normal at all and Tony felt panic rising in his chest.

“It would be best if you see for yourself, sir.”

Letting out a quiet curse, Tony stood up and raced up the stairs, his mind already playing terrible scenarios in his head. If he lost Peter the same day he lost his parents…

“Peter! Are you okay, Jarvis said-”

Tony stopped dead in his tracks as he saw the living room. There were pillows on the couch and blankets draped around the cushions as if someone had tried to make a blanket fort but failed. The smell of cookies was in the air. And then arms wrapped around him. Not a tackle, not a hug out of excitement, but a purposeful hug, a comforting hug.

The panic of a second ago diminished, replaced by confusion.

“I’m sorry about your parents.” Peter’s voice was muffled, but the words struck Tony, hard. His confusion died, and a bittersweet sadness replaced it.  
Peter knew. And he didn’t just know, he had done…this…for him?

It was a gesture Tony hadn’t received in a long time, one he didn’t think he needed anymore. But the pressure on his chest would argue otherwise. He glanced down at the boy who was hugging him, who had the purest heart Tony knew. Then he returned the hug.

“Thank you, Peter.” They were simple words, so Tony didn’t expect his throat to catch as he spoke, but it did. Patting Peter’s back, he looked around at the room again.

“You did all of this by yourself?”

Peter loosened his grip a little and glanced at the room before looking up hesitantly at Tony.

“Yeah…Jarvis helped some but…he couldn’t really help me with the blankets very much or the…cookies!”

Peter jumped away, bolting towards the kitchen and Tony found himself watching as the kid rushed off. How in the world had he gotten to adopt the most caring kid in the world? He didn’t deserve this.

Tony walked into the kitchen and saw Peter trying to pull a pan out of the oven but he didn’t have a very good grip on it.

“Woah!” Rushing forward, Tony pulled on an oven mitt and grabbed the pan before Peter dropped it. Placing it on the top of the oven, he glanced down at Peter who was looking over the cookies.

“They didn’t burn, did they?”

“No, they look great.” It wasn’t a lie, the cookies were definitely an improvement from the last batch Peter had made on his own, but they were a little darker than some people might like.

Peter reached up to try and grab one but Tony quickly shooed him back. “They need to cool a bit first, why don’t we take a look at that blanket fort while we wait?”

A few hours later, they sat on the couch, a blanket canopied over them while they art pizza and cookies and watched one of Peter’s favorite movies. The kid had asked Tony what he wanted to do, but he was content to do whatever Peter wanted to do. So they watched as Buddy, a man that thought he was an elf, ran around New York. Of course Tony had heard about the movie, but he never actually watched it and he had to admit, it was a good way to distract himself from the memories of the day.

As the credits rolled, Tony glanced down at Peter who had ended up resting against Tony at some point during the movie, his eyes were closed and if he hadn’t been laughing only a few minutes ago, Tony would’ve thought he was asleep. Barely holding back a smile, Tony looked around at the room, with one string of lights hung low on the wall – Peter’s work – and blankets draping different furniture. It didn’t look much like Christmas, and that was accentuated by the fact that Malibu didn’t get that cold, even during the winter.

“Hey Pete?”

The kid’s head shot up, making Tony wonder if he had almost been asleep.

“How’d you like to go shopping? It doesn’t look very much like Christmas here and it’s only a few days away.”

“Really?!?” The excitement in Peter’s tone matched the enthusiasm that shone in his eyes.

“Yeah, I’ll just go grab one of my hoodies and we can get a few things to brighten the place up.”

A few minutes later, they were walking in the store, Tony watching in amusement as Peter ran around, pointing out different decorations – most of which Tony added to the cart. By the time they checked out, the had two basket fulls, plus a Christmas tree. It was a big mansion after all.

But the excitement of the store was nothing compared to helping Peter decorate the house, which only resulted in a few mishaps here and there. And the use of his newest suit helped Tony tremendously in hanging up the lights outside.

By the time night fell, Tony was exhausted, but the house looked much more festive inside and out.

Finishing off a cookie, Tony nodded. “I’d say that’s a job well done.”

Peter nodded in agreement, excitement lining his face even as a yawn escaped his mouth, which resulted in Tony yawning as well.

“Alright, time for bed.”

“Wait! I still need to wrap Harry’s present!” Peter said, perking up as he rushed over to their haul and started digging through the mostly empty bags.

Tony laughed and shook h is head. “There is still plenty of time to wrap presents.”

“But he’s coming over tomorrow!”

That froze Tony in his tracks. He didn’t remember hearing anything about that, but then again, he hadn’t been in his best state the past few days.

“Alright, we’ll wrap it real fast, then go to bed, deal?”

“Deal!”

* * *

Christmas morning dawned and Peter was awake before the sun was even up. He hadn’t slept much. The past few days had flown by, having been filled with caroling with his friends, watching more movies with Mr. Stark, and wrapping presents. Peter glanced at the present he had only finished last night. A small knot of worry grew in his stomach. He hadn’t known what to get Tony, after all Mr. Stark had everything. What could he possible need? But an idea had formed in Peter’s mind and with some help from Happy, Rhodey, and Pepper, he had managed to get everything he needed.

Getting out of bed, Peter grabbed the gift and walked into the living room. The lights turned on – though they were dimmed – and he carefully placed his present next to the others, almost all of which had his name on them. He had to admit it was a little strange and awe-inspiring to see so many presents for himself. He was used to only three or four, but there were probably ten under the tree. Mr. Stark was a billionaire though, so maybe it shouldn’t have been so surprising.

For a moment, Peter sat on the floor, looking at the house around him. So much had changed since last Christmas…

“Couldn’t sleep?”

Head whipping around, Peter saw Mr. Stark leaning against the wall, smiling at him.

Smiling sheepishly, Peter shrugged. “It’s hard to sleep when I’m excited.”

Tony nodded, his smile widening. “Want to open your presents?”

“Can I?”

A laugh. “Of course.”

The next few minutes, Peter was caught up in the euphoria that came with opening presents and seeing the surprise inside. Most of the gifts were toys of a sort, but also some good gadgets and other various knickknacks, all of which Peter loved. But as he picked up the last present, he realized Tony hadn’t even opened one present yet – though he did only have one under the tree.

Setting down the box, Peter walked over and grabbed the box.

“Your turn.”

Tony’s eyebrows shot up, but he accepted the gift, and in true adult fashion, opened it slowly. As each second ticked by, Peter found his nervousness spiking.

Maybe he shouldn’t have made the gift, maybe he should’ve found something else to get Mr. Stark. He had gotten him so many amazing things, his gift didn’t compare.

Biting his lip, Peter watched as Tony pulled out the handmade book – held together by staples and decorated with markers and stickers. It looked even more silly than when Peter had wrapped it, but as his eyes darted up, he saw a smile on Mr. Stark’s face.

“Did you make this?” Tony asked, as he opened it and started looking through the pages.

“I…uh…yeah…I got some help to get the pictures, but I didn’t really know what to get you and I thought of it, but it’s really silly I know it’s not amazing or-”

“Peter.”

Tony’s words stopped the tumult of words and Peter quickly shut his mouth. Before mumbling a quiet “sorry.”

“Sorry? Peter do not apologize, this is-” If he didn’t know any better, Peter thought Mr. Stark’s voice caught. “This is one of the best gifts I’ve ever gotten. I love it.”

Peter’s eyes widened and he looked up at Tony, not quite sure he had just heard his words correctly. “R-really?”

“Really. And, it’s kind of fitting…why don’t you open your last wrapped gift?”

Peter lifted up the box before one word stuck out. “Wrapped gift?”

Tony nodded. “I have one more but…there wasn’t really a way to wrap it.” Then he nodded towards the box. “Go ahead, open it.”

Trying not to think about what the other present could be, Peter opened the box and dug through the paper to find…an old polaroid camera. And it wasn’t just any polaroid, he knew this one, it had been his dad’s…

“Ho-how?” Peter could barely stammer out the word, his eyes were transfixed on the camera.

“I found it in one of the boxes downstairs. It was a little beat up and I may have modified it a little so it takes a digital picture along with a print out.” A pause. “What do you think?”

“I…” Peter tore his gaze away from the camera to look at Tony. “Thank you.”

Mr. Stark smiled, then gestured for the camera, which Peter hesitantly gave to him. “I think my book is missing one picture.” Holding up the camera, a screen popped out, showing what the camera was focusing on.

Peter stared at the screen and smiled, a mixture of warmth and sadness welling in his chest as the picture clicked. He couldn’t believe Tony had done this all for him, he was lucky, but his heart still ached as he looked at the camera and felt the hole left by his parents.

“Perfect.” Mr. Stark grabbed the photo that had popped out and shook it until the picture came into view.

Peter looked at the image and found himself smiling. It was a good picture.

“Alright, why don’t you take your things to your room and then we can eat.”

Mr. Stark stood up but then Peter remembered what he had said a few minutes ago. “What about the unwrapped present?”

A shadow of uncertainty grew on Tony’s face for a moment, but then is vanished. “I’ll show it to you after we eat.”

Breakfast turned out to be quite a long ordeal, after settling on pancakes, they had trouble getting the batter right, which resulted in both of them getting quite dirty. By the time they had eaten and cleaned up it had been over an hour.

Walking into the front room in clean clothes, Peter saw Mr. Stark sitting on the couch, a screen in his lap.

“Can I see it now?”

Tony’s head shot up. His eyes flickered toward the screen and he sighed. “I…yeah…sure.”

The hesitation in his voice made Peter nervous, but he sat on the couch anyway. “Is…is it on the screen?”

Silence, then a ‘mhmm.’

A menu popped up and Mr. Stark tapped a few buttons. Then a list popped up with dates on them.

Confusion grew with each step. “What…are those?”

“They are videos I found. A lot of them were on old tapes, some were corrupted but I did what I could and transferred them into the house’s system so you can watch them anywhere.”

A weight grew in Peter’s chest as an idea formed in his head, could these be…? Reaching over, he tapped one of the videos that was dated as Christmas from a few years ago.

_“Are you excited, Peter?”_

As soon as he heard the voice, tears sprung in Peter’s eyes. It was his dad’s voice, a voice he hadn’t heard in so long, and his mom…

The video blurred as tears filled Peter’s eyes, but he couldn’t tear his gaze away. His parents, alive, smiling, laughing. He’d give anything to walk into that video right then and hug them.

“I knew I shouldn’t have show this to you today.”

Mr. Stark’s voice broke Peter away from the memory and he quickly looked up, tears falling from his eyes as he did so. “No! I…” He lifted his hand, wanting to touch his mom again, but he couldn’t. “I haven’t heard them in…I…thank you.” Peter could barley whisper the words, but he meant every one of them.

Looking back at the screen, Peter’s chest tightened again. An arm rested on his shoulder and the pain only grew, he wanted to be happy, he didn’t want to cry, but the more he tried to hold it back, the stronger it felt. A sob escaped his mouth and before he knew it, arms were wrapping around him.

“It's okay, Peter.”

Burying his head in Tony’s shirt, Peter couldn’t fight back all the emotions rushing through him. The sobs came and he couldn’t stop them even if he tried.

“I-I’m s-sorry.”

“Peter, don’t. There is nothing to apologize for.” A hand rested on the back of Peter’s head and the hug tightened just a little.

Little by little, Peter’s sobs eased, he could breathe semi-normally again, and only then did Tony’s arms loosen, just a little.

“How you doing?”

Opening his eyes a little, Peter found himself looking at a dull light, shining through Mr. Stark’s shirt, his arc reactor and for some reason, he found the sight comforting. “I…okay…”

A hand ran though his hair, and it reminded him so much of his mom he almost started crying again.

“I’m sorry. I should’ve waited to show you. I guess I ruined Christmas.”

Peter quickly looked up. Mr. Stark wasn’t even looking at him, he was staring at the wall. Wrapping his arms around Tony, Peter hid his face in his shirt again. “You didn’t ruin it. You gave me my parents back.”

* * *

The rest of the day, Peter barely left the couch and Tony stayed beside him the whole time as they watched old videos of Peter’s family. Every few minutes, Tony found himself looking at the kid, guilt still gnawing at him for ever thinking old videos would be a good gift. But then Peter would smile, or laugh, even with tear stains on his cheeks.

After eating a late lunch or maybe it was an early dinner, they switched from family videos to Christmas movies – Tony bought any that Peter wanted to watch.

Hours passed and it was only when he heard a soft snoring that Tony realized Peter was asleep, his head resting on Tony’s chest. A small smile grew on his face and he glanced at the movie that wasn’t even halfway through yet. Maybe he could finish it then take Peter to his room. But as the movie played, Tony found himself growing tired, he hasn’t exactly been sleeping that much recently after all. The plot of the movie started getting lost to him, and his eyes started drooping more and more. As the credits starts rolling, Tony let them close. And with an arm still wrapped comfortingly around Peter, he fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was such a fun chapter to write, and I hope y'all liked it! (Even though it was a little feelsy...) I really wanted to address Tony not liking the time of year because of what happened to his parents, but then I had to have Peter help him and try to make him smile more because Peter would??? Also, I really wanted Jarvis to call Peter "young sir" because I thought that would be adorable. 
> 
> Also, this week I was working on an AU of this AU...where Tony didn't adopt Peter and the next time he sees Peter it's because he's Spider-Man. I'm hoping to finish it soon, so if your interested, keep an eye out! I'm planning on posting it to a new fic series that is connected to this series where I can post AUs and one shots that can't be in the main story ^^
> 
> (I also haven't even started the next chapter yet but I will try my best to finish it before next Wednesday :D)


	6. A Resolution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New Year's Eve is an exciting day, and Peter is ecstatic that he gets to celebrate it with his friends, especially since Tony agreed to let him go to a party at Harry's house. Unfortunately things don't go quite as planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My tumblr](http://aceofstars16.tumblr.com/%22)

Peter was ecstatic. When he had asked Mr. Stark about going to Harry’s New Year’s Eve party, he didn’t think Tony would agree, but then he had. The only stipulation was that Tony had to come as well, which Peter was fine with. In fact, Harry had told him that his dad would be hosting a party for the adults in a different part of the house, so it worked out perfectly.

As the car pulled up to Harry’s house, Peter couldn’t stop grinning. And he quickly opened the door and hopped out.

“Woah, wait a sec Pete!”

Bouncing on his toes, Peter turned and looked at Mr. Stark as he helped Ms. Potts out of the car.

“Now, remember, don’t go anywhere you aren’t supposed to, and if you need anything just come and get me, okay?”

Trying not to steal a glance at the house, Peter nodded, he already knew that, it was just common sense.

"Pete, there you are!”

Harry grinned as he walked over.

“Oh, hi Mr. Stark!” A quick wave, then he turned his attention back to Peter. “Come on, I got the game room all set up. Gwen is already up there and I’m sure the others will get here soon.”

“Awesome!” Peter glanced at Mr. Stark and smiled hesitantly. “Can I go with Harry?”

“Yeah, go on.” Tony waved his hand and Peter quickly followed Harry inside the house, excitement bubbling inside him, this was going to be a great night!

* * *

Tony watched as Peter rushed off, and a small sigh escaped his mouth.

“He’ll be fine, Tony.”

Glancing over at Pepper, he managed a smile. She was right, he would be fine. Trying to brush aside the nagging worry in his chest, Tony held out his arm.

“Shall we?”

Pepper grabbed his arm and smiled. “Lead the way.”

“Yeah, you guys have fun.”

Tony glanced back at Happy in the car and tilted his head towards the house. “You know, you could always join us.”

Happy shrugged. “I’m not big on parties. Have fun though.”

“We will.”

Walking inside they were met by a slew of people. Tony recognized a few of them, but most were only vaguely familiar, that, or complete strangers.

“Ah, Mr. Stark, I was so happy to hear you could make it.”

A man Tony only vaguely recognized walked up to him and he shook his hand. “Mr. Osborn.” Tony simply nodded, trying to remember all the information he had found out about the man before he had come. Apparently, Norman Osborn had done a lot of research in animal biology and applying it to humans, but he didn’t have many breakthroughs. However, there were quite a few rumors of unsavory business practices hovering around his company. Nothing to really assure Tony about him, but it could just be the press. After all, they had plenty to say about _him_ and not half of it was true.

“Ah, this must be Miss Potts.” He took Pepper’s hand and kissed it. Tony knew it was formal, but knowing what he did, he felt himself itching to yank Pepper away.

“A pleasure.” Pepper said simply, and then Norman Osborn walked away.

“What was that all about?” Pepper muttered under her breath, giving Tony a questioning glance, clearly not approving of the interaction.

“I read up on him, that’s all. I like his kid fine, but…his business is…sketchy.”

“Oh, and we know nothing about that.” Pepper jibbed.

“That was Stane and you know it.”

A smile played on Pepper’s mouth as she turned her attention to the crowd. “Quite different than your last party hmm.”

Looking up at the formal gathering before him, Tony let out a small chuckle. Nothing like his last party indeed. “Well I was dying then, so…you know my parties normally aren’t that bad.

Pepper raised an eyebrow at him and he bit back a smile.

“Alright, maybe some of them were. Shall we dance?”

Before she could answer he, pulled her in and started a slow dance, much like how he had danced with her almost a year ago - when he first realized how blind he had been. He had been going from woman to woman when the perfect one had been in front of him the whole time. However this dance was a little different. Back then, she had been tense, but now she was more relaxed, even resting her head on his shoulder.

“You know, I think Happy might actually like this party.” Tony said, seeing the calm atmosphere, much more Happy’s speed than some…other types of parties.

Lifting her head, Pepper looked around and chuckled. “Should we invite him in again?”

“Maybe after another dance.”

* * *

“Want some more popcorn, Peter?”

Glancing over at Harry, Peter shook his head before turning his attention back to the game that Miles and Gwen were playing, trying to ignore the irritated feeling in his throat. He didn’t know when it had come on, but no matter what he ate or drank, it lingered.

It will go away soon. That’s what he kept telling himself, but at the minutes ticked by, he didn’t feel any better.

A shiver ran through his body as he finished fighting an enemy in the game – Gwen had given him a turn a few minutes ago – and he couldn’t have felt worse. Maybe he just needed to get up for a bit.

“I’ll be right back.” He said, handing the controller back to Gwen, barely able to return her smile before getting up and quickly making his way to the hallway.

Soon the noise of the game diminished and Peter stopped, taking a deep breath, only to cough. Glancing back at his friends, he slowly made his way towards the stairs. Tony said to come to him with anything, right?

Reaching the middle of the stairs, Peter looked around, trying to spot Mr. Stark. There were so many suits and they all looked the same. But then he saw Ms. Potts and quickly found Tony. They were both talking and smiling, they even laughed a few times. A small prick of guilt weighed down on Peter. Tony was having a good time…maybe he shouldn’t intrude. He could manage until the end of the night…

Turning around, he slowly made his way back to the game room, but as the noise of the game came into earshot, Peter found himself hesitating. The thought of acting like everything was fine when all he wanted to do was lie down sounded more daunting than it should. His feet started moving in a different direction, even as he heard Mr. Stark’s words telling not to go anywhere that was off limits. This wasn’t off limits right, it was still a hallway after all. Then he reached a room, which must have been an observatory of sorts, though it was dark so he couldn’t see much. However, he could see a couch. Maybe if he just lied down for a few minutes he would feel better and he could go back to his friends. Yeah…that wouldn’t hurt anything, right?

* * *

“What do you mean you don’t know where he is?” Tony tried to keep his voice calm, but he wasn’t exactly mastering that.

After a few hours of dancing and chatting with fellow scientists, Tony found himself wondering how Peter was doing. He was just going to check on the kid for a minute, but when he had found the other kids, Peter was nowhere to be found, and he had quickly pulled Harry aside to see where he was.

“He said he was going to be right back, but he was looking a little…flustered so I thought he went and found you…so…he’s not with you?”

“No, or else I wouldn’t be up here!”

Harry flinched just a little at the raised tone, and Tony tried to reel in his worry, but that wasn’t an easy feat. Taking a deep breath, he spoke again.

“How long has he been gone?”

“I…I don’t know…maybe thirty minutes?”

“Do you have any idea where he could be?”

“I uh…no…but someone would’ve seen him if he was downstairs.” Harry was obviously unsure what to do, the kid looked almost worried as Tony felt…almost.

“I’ll go ask, you look around up here, okay?”

Harry nodded and Tony headed back downstairs, unconsciously looking around as he walked, wishing Peter would walk out of a bathroom or something.

The next few minutes, Tony asked around if anyone had seen a kid downstairs – Pepper helped as well, but no one had seen him.

“I’m going to look upstairs with Harry, can you stay down here in case he comes down?”

“Of course.” Pepper squeezed his hand. “We will find him, Tony.”

All Tony could manage was a nod before he headed upstairs. Why had he ever agreed to come? He should’ve just stayed home with Peter. Or had the kid stay with him the whole time – though that would’ve raised a lot of questions. Still, Tony would’ve preferred that to this. Because if something happened to Peter…

“Mr. Stark, I found him!”

Harry raced up to him and quickly gestured towards the hallway he had come from. “He’s just down here.”

Neither of them said anything as Tony followed the kid into a large room, the night sky visible through the glass walls and ceiling.

Peter was asleep on a couch in the corner of the room, a pillow tucked in his arms. Relief washed over Tony, only to be replaced by concern and confusion. Walking over to Peter, he crouched down next to him and gently shook his shoulder, only to be surprised by how warm the kid felt, even with a sweater on.

A small groan was the only response as Peter buried his face into the pillow.

“Pete, come on, wake up kiddo.”

Tony shook his shoulder again and Peter’s eyes peered open.

“Mr. Stark?” His voice sounded dry, and tired.

“Yeah, it’s me…”

“What…?” Confusion lined the kid’s face, then his eyes snapped open all the way and he sat up. “The party! I…I didn’t mean to, I just-”

A cough interrupted Peter’s word and Tony quickly rested a hand on his back. It was instinct, but he quickly lifted it. “You’re burning up too. Why didn’t you tell me you were feeling bad before we came?”

Peter hugged the pillow to his chest. “I wasn’t feeling bad then…”

“So…why didn’t you get me when you started feeling bad?”

A small shrug.

Tony pinched his nose, trying to keep his emotions in check. “Peter, I told you to come and get me if anything was wrong, not go wandering off!”

“I’m sorry.” It was barely a whisper, but it deflated the anger that had grown in Tony’s chest.

Letting out a breath, Tony closed his eyes for a moment. “Come on.” Standing up, he held out a hand. “Let’s get you home.”

“But…the party-”

“Peter, you obviously have a fever. Come on, there will be other parties.”

Peter glanced at Harry, who had been listening quietly in the hallway.

“It’s okay Pete, don’t worry we can hang out again before school starts again.” Harry smiled at Peter and Tony was grateful for that. His dad might be…iffy, but Harry wasn’t bad.

“Okay.” Tony could barely hear Peter’s reply, but a second later, the kid was standing up and with a glance at Tony’s hand, he grabbed it.

Tony tried not to think about how warm Peter’s hand felt as he walked towards the stairs, only for Peter to stop.

“Can we go out the other way?”

“Other way?”

“We can in on the other side of the house, there are stairs over there too,” Harry said, quickly, pointing in the opposite direction they were heading.

“Alright, but I need to let Pepper know what’s going on before we head home. Do you want to wait up here while I get her or-”

“I can tell her.” Harry interrupted, then quickly added. “If…that’s okay?”

It wasn’t the perfect solution – Pepper had only met Harry one – but it would have to do. “Yeah, sure, we’ll meet her outside.”

A few minutes later, Tony was sitting in the car, looking at Peter who was pressed up against him, his body burning up. Despite the warring emotions that kept berating his mind, Tony couldn’t help but smile as the kid hugged his arm as if it was a stuffed animal.

During the entire trip home, Tony kept debating what to do and say to Peter. The fear that had overcome him when he couldn’t find Peter still lingered, and it all could’ve been avoided if the kid had just come to him like he had told him to. But at the same time, he knew Peter didn’t mean anything by it, if anything he probably had a good intention behind it. And it was hard to be mad when the kid was being so clingy.

“Here we are, boss.” Despite the formalness of the words, Happy sounded downright worried. Leave it to Peter to soften Happy up, the kid was just that good.

Tony glanced at Peter and then the door, before nudging the kid a little.

“Come on, Pete, we’re home."

Still holding onto Tony’s arm, Peter looked at the house then hid his head in Tony’s chest. It was crazy what being sick could do to a kid, a few hours ago he had been bouncing with energy and now he didn’t want to move one inch.

“Alright, you leave me no choice.” Prying his arm away from Peter, he scooped the kid up, only to realize he hadn’t opened the door, but then a second later, it opened, Pepper smiling at him from outside.

“Thanks, Pep,” he said as he stood up, and at the same time Peter buried his head in the crook of Tony’s neck.

Pepper reached up and brushed Peter’s hair. “Need me to stay and help out?”

“I think I can handle a little fever.”

A raised eyebrow was her only response and Tony relented, okay so maybe he wasn’t the best with being sick and maybe Pepper had nursed him to health once or twice, but that was when he was sick, not someone else. At the same time however, he wanted to make sure Peter was okay, and Pepper always knew what she was doing.

“Okay…I maybe could use a little help.”

Pepper smiled, and it was only because he knew her so well that he knew that it was meant to assure him that she wasn’t trying to downplay his efforts. She only wanted what was best for him – or in this case Peter.

“Happy, could you swing by a pharmacy and get some children’s Tylenol?”

“Just were I want to go on New Year’s Eve.” Despite his irritated tone of voice, Tony knew Happy wasn’t actually that upset.

As the car drove away, Tony readjusted Peter in his arms and then headed inside.

“Welcome back, sir.”

“Hey Jarvis.” Tony said as he made his way to Peter’s room.

“I’ll go grab a wash cloth.” Pepper said, then walked further into the house to find what she needed. Tony knew she’d find it, heck she knew this place almost as well as him.

After some maneuvering, Tony managed to pull pack the blankets and sheets on Peter’s bed, but when he tried to put the kid down, he wouldn’t let go of Tony’s neck.

“Come on, Pete, we’re home, you need to rest, and I need to check in with Pepper.”

The only response was Peter tightening his grip.

With a sigh, Tony kicked off his shoes and got on the bed, pulling a blanket over Peter.

A small laugh sounded from the door and Tony looked up and saw Pepper with a washcloth in her hand. He just shrugged. “He gets clingy when he feels bad.”

“I still remember when you asked me to wear a mask when I had a cold,” she said as she walked over and gently moved Peter’s head so she could place the towel on it.

“Hey, that was because I was dying.”

Pepper gave him a look, but he couldn’t quite decipher it. “What?”

A moment of silence, then a smile. “Nothing just…it suits you.”

“What does?”

She waved towards Peter, who had tilted his head again, resulting in Tony’s jacket getting wet. “Taking care of Peter.”

It was unexpected, and Tony found doubt settling into his heart. “You know I’m really just bluffing my way through it. I don’t know what the heck I’m doing half the time.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Tony. I’ve seen the way Peter looks at you, and I’ve seen how you care about him.” She pointed to the kid who must’ve been asleep for a few minutes now, that or he was just too tired to move or talk.

“Well, he has that effect on everyone.” It was a toss away answer, but despite knowing in his heart how much he cared for the kid, admitting it to someone else, even Pepper, was scary.

Pepper simply nodded then ran a hand through Peter’s hair. “I’m going to call and check in on Happy.” For a moment, she looked like she was going to ask something else, but then she just smiled and pressed a kiss against Tony’s forehead before heading out of the room.

Moving the blanket so it was covering Peter’s shoulder, Tony looked up at the ceiling.

“Display time.”

_12:03_

Tony chucked a little. It was the first New Year’s Eve count down he had missed in years. Maybe he should be disappointed, but as he looked at Peter, he only felt relief, and that spark of protectiveness. Resolutions always seemed like such a silly thing, but as Tony turned his attention back to the clock, he realized he had made one months ago. To keep Peter safe. It was a far cry from a silly promise, and he was going to keep it.

“Happy New Year, Peter.” Tony muttered as he rubbed the kid’s back gently. Then he closed his eyes, it was a new year, might as well start it off by getting some sleep, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update! I didn't even start writing this chapter until yesterday because my motivation has been so low. I barely wrote anything this week, so I'm just glad I got to finish this. It's not my best work but I hope y'all enjoy it ^^
> 
> It also has a little more Pepperony in it, but I tried to keep Peter as the main focus because it is a story about him and Tony, but I also want to have the entirety of the Iron Family in it as well. This also ends the holiday spam! I think...I kind of reached the end of the chapters I had solid ideas for, but don't worry, I still have a plot all planned out, I just have to develop it a little more. I still plan on updating next week! :D
> 
> Thank you to everyone who has read this far, it means a lot <3


	7. Safe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony gets sick, and Peter is worried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [](http://aceofstars16.tumblr.com/)

Tony hated getting sick. He had tried his hardest to make sure he never got sick, because although his body was exhausted, his brain didn’t slow down. But despite taking ungodly amounts of vitamin C, it seemed that constantly being around a sick kid had done his immune system in.

Grabbing another cough drop, Tony popped it into his mouth, regretting it a second later as Peter walked out, looking much better than Tony felt.

“Hey kiddo, how you feeling?” Tony asked, maneuvering the cough drop in his mouth so it didn’t inhibit his speech.

Peter – who was hugging Freckles – nodded. “Better, my throat doesn’t hurt anymore-” A small cough. “I still have a cough though.”

“Coughs are usually the last thing to go.” Walking over to Peter, he felt the kid’s head and nodded. “You feel cooler too, I think you’re getting better.” Even as he said it, Tony knew his temperature test might be affected by the heat of his own body, but last he had checked, Peter hadn’t had a fever so he was assuming it was the same.

“Your hand is warm.”

“Hm?” The hum of the word tickled his throat and Tony instantly regretted it as he tried to hold back a cough.

“Did…did I get you sick?” It was hesitant, as if Peter was worried or feeling guilty, and Tony internally told his body to get it together.

“No, I just had gloves on, that’s all.” Rustling Peter’s hair, Tony motioned toward the kitchen. “You want any soup or anything?” They had a stock pile of the stuff, that and some teas Pepper had recommended – which Tony had been drinking every hour, though he doubted they were a good fix for the lack of sleep he was getting. He blamed his brain for that, normally six hours was plenty, but when his body was fighting something…that wasn’t enough. Not to mention it took him twice as long to even fall asleep because of the stuffy nose, and he woke up more often too. Overall, not a good combo.

Peter shook his head and Tony couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed, he could go for some soup right now, but he’d manage without it.

“Alright, want to rest more? Or watch a movie?” The past few days had been full of movies, TV shows, and sleeping. Tony was pretty sure he had watched more animated movies in the past three days than he had watched in his entire lifetime, but they hadn’t been bad so he wasn’t really mad.

Peter hummed as he looked around. “Can we hang out in the lab?”

Oh great, the exact opposite of what Tony wanted to do. He had been working in the lab whenever Peter had slept, and working there only increased the activity of his brain when he tried to sleep. Sure, he could get lost in a project and not notice how crappy he was feeling, but then he would take a break and feel worse then ever. But he did have a project he was quite interested in and it was the first time Peter actually wanted to do something semi-active so he just shrugged. “Sure thing kiddo.”

The first few minutes went fine, Tony started getting in the grove, barely smothering a smile as he noticed Peter watching intently, just like the kid had done the first time he had come into the lab. Soon enough, Tony was engrossed in the project, his hands flying, despite their slight shakiness, until a cough escaped his mouth, unnoticed by him, but Peter wasn’t so distracted.

“…I did get you sick…” His voice was so downtrodden, Tony froze in his work and quickly looked up, trying to ignore how his body was screaming at him to take everything slow.

“Hey, no. Pete, I’m fine. Really.”

“You’ve been sniffling and clearing your throat this whole time…” Peter looked at the ground, bunching up his shoulders, looking guilty.

“Hey, Peter, look at me.”

A hesitation, then he glanced up.

“I might be sick, but you shouldn’t blame yourself, it wasn’t your fault you got sick and I’m not that bad, really.” The last words were a lie, Tony felt terrible, but he could manage especially because he hated seeing Peter looking so sad.

“You should still sleep. Like you said, sleep is the fastest way to get better.”

Tony could’ve smacked his past self, of course that was true for Peter, but for him well…it wasn’t always the case. “I’ve gotten enough rest, don’t worry about me Pete.”

* * *

Don’t worry. Mr. Stark had told him not to worry, that he was fine, and Peter tried to believe it. But he couldn’t help but notice the bags under Tony’s eyes, the way his hands shook as he worked, or how he seemed to pop a pill in his mouth every few hours. Peter tried to ask about resting a few more times, but each time, Mr. Stark said he was okay, even though he really didn’t look it. So Peter asked to watch another movie – The Incredibles was a classic they hadn’t watched yet – but even as they watched, worry built up more and more.

It wasn’t just that Tony was sick, it was something Peter had overheard a few nights ago, in his almost comatose sickly state. A little jib about…dying.  
“I was dying.”

Tony had said it himself, and it had been playing around in Peter’s mind again and again. It sounded past tense but…what if Mr. Stark really was dying, what if he did die? The question was almost too terrifying to think about, and yet Peter couldn’t get it out of his head. Just the idea of losing another guardian figure…it was unbearable.

* * *

At first, Tony didn’t notice anything, he was too focused on trying not to feel like absolute crap. But then he noticed Peter just staring off into space, not watching the movie that was playing. At first he thought it was nothing, but then the kid wasn’t even paying attention to the climax.

Grabbing the remote, Tony paused the movie. “Okay, Pete, what’s going on?”

Peter straightened up, but when he looked at Tony, he just smiled, though it was a strained smile if he had ever seen one. “Umm, they are trying to get to downtown to stop the robot and-”

Tony quickly waved his hand. “No, not the movie. You’ve been zoned out for almost the entire thing.”

The only response was Peter looking down and petting Freckles.

Trying to ignore how much swallowing and talking hurt, Tony readjusted his position on the couch so he was facing Peter. “Remember, you can talk to me.”

It was a reassurance, that the kid wasn’t alone and didn’t have to face anything alone. But for some reason it had the opposite effect. Peter ducked his head and hid it in the stuffed animal’s fur.

“Hey…” Tony trailed off, barely holding back a cough. He could barely figure out how to help Peter when he was healthy, and not that he was sick, it was even more confusing, but heck if he wasn’t going to try. “Come on, Pete, I can’t help if I don’t know what’s going on. You feeling worse?”

A shake of the head.

“Okay, are you-” A rough cough interrupted his question and that’s when Tony saw Peter flinch. “You aren’t still feeling bad about me being sick, are you? I told you it’s not bad.” Another cough denied that but Tony forced himself not to think about it.

Silence.

Tony sighed, he really didn’t know what to do here, and he was running on reserves. “Alright, well…we can finish the movie I guess.”

Picking up the remote, he was about to press play when Peter spoke, so quiet he almost didn’t hear it.

“If-”

“If what?”

“If I tell you…will you rest?”

The remote almost fell out of Tony’s hand. That was unexpected. Man, Peter really was something else. Making sure Tony took care of himself, though it could almost be seen as blackmail, but with the way he was feeling, Tony didn’t mind it.

“Alright…if you tell me, I’ll sleep. Deal?”

Peter picked at Freckle’s fur and nodded.

Leaning back, Tony blinked his eyes hard to try and ward off the headache that had been pounding his head for a few hours, and then waited.

Seconds ticked by, and Tony was starting to wonder if he would have to sleep first, then Peter spoke.

“What…what did you mean when you said you were dying?”

“What?” The word came out of Tony’s mouth before he could even think, where in the world had Peter heard THAT?

“When…when you were talking with Miss Potts you…you said you were dying…”

Then realization dawned on him. A few nights ago, when Peter had been so sick he hadn’t wanted to move, when Tony thought he had been too out of it to hear anything. But of course the kid had heard, and of course he would be confused.

“I was, but I’m fine now. Aside from maybe a little cough and sore throat.”

“But…why…how…” Peter hid his face in Freckles again.

Letting out a breath, Tony closed his eyes. “Long story short, my old arc reactor wasn’t very good for my body, but I made this one.” He tapped his chest. “And now it’s all good.”

Poking his eyes out from behind his stuffed cheetah, Peter looked at where Tony’s arc reactor was. The kid was obviously thinking, but unfortunately Tony couldn’t exactly read Peter’s thoughts. Tilting his down head so Peter was looking at his face instead, Tony managed a smile. “See? All good.”

No return smile, if anything, Peter looked almost…scared. Then a body slammed into Tony’s chest and little arms hugged him, almost painfully tight. It made every inch of Tony’s body ache, but that didn’t stop him from wrapping his arms around Peter as he heard small sobs escape the kid’s mouth. And that was worse than any sickness.

“Hey, it’s okay, Pete. It’s okay.” Tony ran a hand through Peter’s hair, at a loss of what to even say, heck he wasn’t even sure he knew what was going on.

Minutes passed, and slowly the sobbing eased and Peter’s grip lessened. The kid tilted his head and rested it on Tony’s chest, tears still staining his cheeks as he looked at the glow coming from the arc reactor.

“It’s more powerful than the last one too.” Tony didn’t know what to say, so he blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

“It…it keeps you safe?” Peter’s voice was barely audible.

“Sure does.” Tony said, as his brain slowly started trying to piece together what happened. Safe, Peter wanted Tony to be safe. He was scared when he heard about Tony dying, he…oh heck. The kid was scared, he was scared of something happening to Tony. Man he didn’t deserve that. Running a hand through Peter’s hair again, Tony pulled him close. “I’m safe. I’m not going anywhere.”

Peter’s hand reached up rested on the arc reactor. “Safe,” he whispered.

“Yeah, safe.” Closing his eyes, Tony felt exhaustion pulling at him, and this time, his brain let him rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO SORRY for the long wait everyone! First I had heath issues that blocked my muse, and then I kind of fell headfirst into another fandom which really took away my motivation for this fic. That and this chapter was just...a just WIP and I didn't really know where I wanted to go with it.  
> Because of my lack of muse, I don't think I can say I will be updating every week, I want to still try and be semi-consistent, but it's really hard to just force myself to write because I want to enjoy it and for it to actually be a good story. However, there are parts in the future of this fic that I'm excited for so who knows, I might post more often when I get to those?  
> Thank you for everyone who has read this fic and for being patient waiting. I still love this AU and I will try my best to get the next chapter up sooner than this one! <3


	8. A Day to Appreciate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's February and Peter is trying to figure out what that means for him, meanwhile Tony is trying to plan the perfect date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](http://aceofstars16.tumblr.com/)

Hearts were everywhere. The teachers at Langley Prep really liked to go all out for the holidays. So, when February rolled around, the halls were filled with pink and red hearts. It made sense for the older students, but Peter didn’t know if it quite worked for him and his friends.

“Pete?”

“Huh.” Peter looked away from the decorations in the lunch room.

“Miles was asking if you could make it to his birthday party on Saturday.”

“Oh, right, I…I’ll have to ask.” Peter shook off the lingering Valentine’s Day question and smiled at Miles. Despite not hanging out a lot, he felt connected to the kid, and he really hoped Tony would let him go to the party.

“Man, you always have to ask to go to things.” Miles frowned and took a bite of his sandwich.

A laugh erupted from Gwen. “We all have to ask. It’s not like we can drive ourselves. Besides, we aren’t exactly teenagers. I’d be worried if Peter didn’t have to ask.”

It was a good point, and Peter found himself smiling gratefully at Gwen, even though she seemed to be stating it more as a fact than to make him feel better but…maybe it was a bit of both.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Miles waved it off. “But you have to come, we are going to have a paintball war, it’s gonna be awesome!”

Peter couldn’t help but smile at the thought of running around trying to splatter paint on each other, it reminded him of Thanksgiving, and that had been quite fun. “I’m sure Mr. St-ah my guardian will let me come.”

Miles frowned at his fast correction, and even Gwen glanced at him – Anya wasn’t at school due to a dentist appointment but he knew if she was here she would’ve done the same. But it seemed they had gotten used to him simply referring to Mr. Stark as his guardian, because they didn’t comment on it.

“Good. Plus, my mom is making ice cream cake, and hers is wayyy better than any store-bought cake, trust me.”

“Oh man, I’m sold,” Harry said, even though he hadn’t finished chewing his last bite yet.

“Harry close your mouth, that’s gross!” Gwen, handed him a napkin. “Or at least cover your mouth.”

Peter couldn’t hold back a laugh at that. He had the best friends.

Plans of birthday parties, and hoping Tony would let him go filled up the rest of Peter’s day. Only when he was outside waiting for Happy, did Valentine’s Day come up again.

“So, what was with you staring at the decorations earlier?”

Peter glanced up as Harry plopped down next to him, obviously waiting for Bruno.

“Oh…nothing…I just don’t get why they decorated here. It’s not like any of us have-” Peter waved his hand, trying to find the right word.

“Romantic interests?”

“Yeah, that.”

Harry shrugged. “I think it’s really more for the teachers.”

“I guess so…”

“Unless…”

Peter quickly looked over at Harry, who was smirking at him. “What?”

“Oh, nothing. I just didn’t know if there was anyone you liked.” Harry tried to smother his smile, but it wasn’t working very well.

“I don’t know what you are talking about.” Despite the words, and the truth behind them, Peter found his cheeks flushing.

“Ah yeah, it’s not like you totally gush on Gwen all the time or anything.”

“What!?! I…I do not!” Peter stuttered out, he didn’t talk about her that much…

“Dude, you bring up her projects almost every time we are discussing ideas for science class.” Harry smirked again and Peter really wished his cheeks would stop feeling so warm.

Sure, Gwen was great. She was super smart and nice, and she always had the coolest and most original ideas. And her smile was really nice, especially when Peter was having a bad day, but that was it!

“I just admire her ideas, that’s all,” Peter muttered, relief washing over him as Happy pulled up just then.

“Suuure.”

“Welp, gotta, go, see you tomorrow!” Peter jumped up, grabbing his backpack and rushing to the car, but he could still hear Harry’s laugh and his, “See you later.”

* * *

 

Tony didn’t know what to do. It was the first Valentine’s Day since him and Pepper had officially started dating and he could NOT blow it. He needed to let her know just how much she meant to him, but that was seemingly trickier than he thought. By the time Peter got home, he hadn’t come up with one idea that seemed to fit the bill, they either seemed too over the top – which Pepper might enjoy but…she might not – or too generic.

The door to the lab opened and without looking up, Tony smiled. “Hey kid, how was school?”

A thump on the floor – Peter’s backpack. “It was good. We learned about Ulysses Grant, he was my mom’s favorite.”

Tony quickly looked up, but as Peter set his work on his table, he didn’t look distressed. Good. “Any new projects?”

“Not yet. There is a big one next month though, but we haven’t been given the list yet. Something about it being a short notice project to see how much we’ve really learned or something like that.”

Tilting his head, Tony frowned, but shrugged. Learning was learning he supposed, and if the kid needed help he’d help him.

“Oh and uh…”

Hesitant. That always meant something. Putting down his screwdriver, Tony sat back. “Something happen?”

“No, well…yeah, but that’s not, um. Miles is having a birthday party this weekend and I was hoping…ummm, I could go?” Peter fiddled with his pencil as he spoke, but then he looked up hesitantly at Tony.

A small spark of uncertainty grew in Tony’s chest, but he tried not to think about it as he weighed the question. “How far away is it?”

“Umm…I’m not sure, he said something about paintball.”

That got Tony’s attention, paintball could be quite…painful. But then again, he was used to going with Rhodey, who took the whole thing very seriously along with his other military friends. Kid’s paintball couldn’t be that bad. “Okay…I’ll ask Happy but…I think it should be okay.”

“Really?!?” Peter grinned.

Tony smiled, but something the kid has said earlier stuck in his mind. “Did something else happen?”

“What? Oh…it’s nothing, really.”

Leaning back, Tony crossed his arms and quirked his eyebrow.

Peter sighed and fiddled with his pencil again. “I just don’t get why they decorated our building for Valentine’s Day. It’s not like any of the kids actually…care about anything like that, you know?”

Oh, thank goodness it wasn’t anything traumatizing, the kid had been through enough as it was. Tony could’ve laughed in relief. “It’s just the norm. Culturally and what-not. And hey, Pep’s told me when she was little she always just celebrated with her friends.”

The kid frowned for a moment. “So, I could just give them to my friends and that be it?”

A shrug. “If you wanted to. Or you can treat it like any other day…unlike me.” The talk of the holiday brought up Tony’s predicament with Pepper again.

“Is something wrong with Miss Potts?”

Tony laughed. “Pete, we’ve been over this, you can call her Pepper. But…yeah, I can’t figure out what to do, nothing seems right.”

“Chocolate and flowers?”

Biting back another laugh, Tony shook his head. “Too generic.”

Peter frowned. “My parents always did that…”

_Crap._ “Hey, I’m saying that for me. It’s totally fine for others to do.”

“Oh.”

Man, Tony really messed that up didn’t he. “But I appreciate the suggestion. I’ll figure out something, don’t worry about it.”

* * *

 

He didn’t have it figured out. It had been a few days, and Tony was still drawing a blank – though he had made reservations at a nice restaurant as a backup in case he couldn’t come up with anything else.

“Maybe you could…get ice cream?”

Tony looked up from his list of ideas at Peter and would’ve laughed if it weren’t for the ice pack on the kid’s arm. Apparently, kid’s paintball resulted in a lot of bruises too. If Tony had known that, he wouldn’t have let Peter go…but then again, the kid had been grinning ear to ear when Happy brought him home, so maybe it was a good thing Tony hadn’t known. Either way, now he was letting Peter help him think of ideas. So far, all of them were silly things, but Tony made a mental note that maybe Peter would enjoy doing some of the activities in the future.

“Pepper is on a no dairy kick lately, so probably not.” Ever since his comment about chocolate being generic, Tony made sure not to shoot Peter’s ideas down. They might not work, but they weren’t bad.

“Oh.” Peter lifted up his ice pack and frowned before returning it. “What about a trip to the beach?”

Amusement was Tony’s first reaction. Getting sand in your shoes, very romantic. But then a small idea started forming in his head. “…you know…you might be on to something there Pete…”

* * *

 

The days leading up to Valentine’s Day were filled with planning. Peter was thrilled that Tony liked his idea, and as the plan continued to develop, he liked it even more. He was also excited that Mr. Stark was letting him help out – making decorations, helping pick out chocolates, and other various things. By the time the day rolled around, Peter was more excited about that evening than anything else – despite not even being a big part of it. However, he did do a little something for his friends too.

“What’s this?” Harry asked as Peter handed him a bag at lunch, pulling out the bags for his other friends too.

“Uh…well, I thought I’d get something for you guys since Valentine’s Day is kind of…a day to appreciate people?” Even as he said it, Peter felt awkward, he didn’t want anyone to get the wrong impression.

“Aww, that’s so sweet Peter! I wish I would’ve gotten something for you guys, well aside from those tacky cards.” Gwen had given everyone a little store-bought card with a cheesy saying on it, but Peter thought it was still sweet of her. And it had helped give him the courage to pull out his own presents.

He smiled in return but then he caught Harry smirking and quickly handed a bag to Anya, wishing he didn’t feel so flustered.

“Well, my present is that you guys can come over and have ice cream cake sometime, my mom made too much and I’m sick of it.” Miles stuck out his tongue, but he was smiling and everyone laughed.

“Count me in,” Anya said, popping one of the candies she had just opened into her mouth. “That cake was good!”

“Say that again when you’ve had it for five days in a row.” Miles groaned, but there was still a smile on his face and Peter was pretty sure he was okay with getting to eat that much cake.

The rest of the day passed quickly and as Peter hoped into the car, excitement for the night built, but he also had one other thing he wanted to do.

“Hey Happy, could we stop by the store? I wanted to get something.”

“Oh yeah? What’s that?”

“It’s a surprise.”

Happy chuckled, but he didn’t say anymore as they made one stop before going back to the mansion.

* * *

 

Tony felt lighter than air. Who knew that Peter’s idea would be so perfect? A dinner date on the beach – complete with a breathtaking sunset, a box of chocolate, and a pair of earrings that anyone else would’ve had to pay off for months. At first, he had been nervous – he wanted Pepper to know just how much she meant to him – but as the evening wore on, he relaxed. This was Pepper after all, she knew him better than anyone. If he slipped up, she would just laugh. The secrets between them were few and far between. Plus, her smile was like medicine to a nervous heart, especially his.

They may have stayed out a little longer than planned, but it was worth it – looking at the stars and just talking, the waves of the ocean crashing in the background – the perfect soundtrack. But despite being fine with staying out all night, the lack of sun slowly made the beach a little chilly, and even after offering his jacket, Pepper continued to shiver.

“Ah, that’s better.” Pepper said as Tony slid into the driver’s seat. It was considerably warmer in the car than outside.

“I really should’ve brought a blanket,” Tony said as he turned the car on, quickly turning off the AC as that wouldn’t be of any use at the moment.

“It’s fine. I have a meeting in the morning so I probably should get some sleep.”

From the corner of his eye, Tony saw her smile and he couldn’t help but smile too. “I’ll drop you off then?”

“Well the mansion is closer than my apartment. Maybe I could bunk over?”

Tony couldn’t hold back a smirk. “Well, my parents are out of town so…”

She laughed at that and a chuckle escaped his mouth. Man, she was so perfect.

The rest of the drive went quickly, and soon they were at the house – Tony helping Pepper out of the car and greeting Jarvis as they walked in.

But as they reached the living room, Tony froze. A movie was playing, and Happy quickly looked around as they walked in. And then there was Peter, asleep on the couch.

“He insisted on staying up for you guys.”

All of the thoughts from the drive disappeared as Tony looked at the kid. If he had known Peter was going to stay up, he would’ve made it a point to come back sooner. But then again, he probably would’ve insisted that they not rush and have a good time.

Looking at Pepper, Tony grinned a little sheepishly, and she just smiled. “How about we both tuck him in?”

Unhooking his arm from hers, Tony walked around to the front of the couch and carefully scooped Peter up, trying his best not to wake the kid. For a moment, he thought he failed as Peter moved his head, but when he didn’t say anything, Tony figured it was safe and he made his way to Peter’s room.

Pepper pulled back the cover and Tony gently placed him down before pulling the blankets over him – Iron Man blanket included.

Stepping back, Tony found himself wanting to stay while simultaneously wanting to leave. Peter looked so peaceful, there was something about it that warmed Tony’s heart - more than anything else had.

“We should let him sleep.” Pepper said quietly.

With a nod, Tony let himself be lead out. When they reached the living room again, Happy was holding up two bags.

“Forgot to tell you. He was going to give you these.”

Tilting his head, Tony grabbed the bag that has his name on it as Pepper grabbed hers. And as he opened it, a smile grew on his face. There were chocolates and candies, but there was also a card.

_Happy Valentine’s Day to the best hero ever!_ And next to it was a little drawing of Iron Man.

As he read the card, Tony heard a small gasp and looked up to see Pepper touching her heart as she looked at a card as well. She glanced up and saw Tony looking at her. Her smile matched his own.

Holding up his card, he couldn’t keep himself from grinning. “The is going up on the fridge.”

Pepper held up her card, which had a drawing of her in a dress and read _Happy Valentine’s Day Miss Pepper!_ “So is mine.”

For a moment, their eyes locked and then Tony found himself saying the same thing he thought at least twice a day. “He’s a good kid.”

Looking down affectionately at her card, Pepper smiled again. “He is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...yeah so here is another holiday chapter...I kind of loved the idea of it so I had to write a little something! And yes, I made Peter have a tiny crush on Gwen (but like a 9 year old's crush haha) because I know in the comics/other universes he likes Gwen. Plus...it was fun to write Harry teasing him xD  
>  I'm still not back to updating every week, but I will try to update when I can! I'm getting to chapters that I'm more excited about (not quite to Avengers but...soon-ish hopefully!) so that helps me motivation a little...;p  
> Thanks for reading <3

**Author's Note:**

> I'd just like to thank anyone who reads this! When I wrote "To Find a Home" I was originally planning on making it a lot longer, spanning from Iron Man 2 all the way to Homecoming. As a way to kind of break up the series, I am planning on writing "To Build a Home" followed by one more section, and after that I will also have a bonus set for any one-shots/AUs I have for this series. I am not planning on writing anything for Infinity War aside from one-shots (mainly because I will need to see the movie again so I can get the scenes right).  
> I really hope y'all enjoy this series as much as I enjoy writing it <3


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